The Wienerwaldsee is a shallow reservoir

Reservoir

A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

, located 20 kilometres west of Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

.

It is located just north of Austria's main motorway, the West Autobahn, between Tullnerbach

Tullnerbach

Tullnerbach is a municipality in the district of Wien-Umgebung in Lower Austria, Austria. It was here in 1901 that Wilhelm Kress failed at his attempt of motorized seaplane flight on the Wienerwaldsee....

 and Neu-Purkersdorf. It was created over three years, 1895-1897, by dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

ming the Wienfluss (The Wien) and letting it fill the valley behind. The area around the lake is a nature conservation area

Conservation area

A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...

. On the northern shore, near the weir

Weir

A weir is a small overflow dam used to alter the flow characteristics of a river or stream. In most cases weirs take the form of a barrier across the river that causes water to pool behind the structure , but allows water to flow over the top...

, stands the statue

Statue

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...

 of Wilhelm Kress

Wilhelm Kress

Wilhelm Kress was a pioneer in aviations and constructor of aircraft.-Life:Kress came to Vienna in 1873, where he developed the first modern delta-flying hang glider in 1877...

. He was an early pioneer of seaplanes and during testing one of his prototypes sank without trace after hitting debris on the surface. The long distance Westbahn (Western Railway) runs along the northern shore of the lake.