Aasee (Münster)

About

Lake Aasee is an artificial lake in Münster, Westphalia.

The lake lies southwest of the city center. It has an area of 0.402 km2 (0.155 sq mi) and is approximately 2.3 km (1.4 mi) long. It is 2 metres (79 inches) at its deepest point. The lake is surrounded by numerous green spaces and trees, which makes it the largest recreational area in the city of Münster. The lake blocks the water of Münster's Aa River and protects the city from flooding. It also provides cool air for the city, because mainly southwest air masses are cooled above the lake. Therefore, it has an important ecological and urban planning function for the city. This also applies to the increasingly natural environment around the lake, which offers breeding grounds and habitat areas for many species and as a result makes it a popular recreation area for the citizens of Münster. The water level fluctuates by up to a meter (39 inches).

During the siege of Munster by Prince Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen on December 18, 1660, two earth walls collapsed, cutting off the city's water supply, causing large parts of the city to be flooded. Münster then surrendered to the besiegers. Even years later, the floodwaters from the collapse of the dam could still be seen at the site of today's Lake Aasee. Until the beginning of the 19th century there were still wetlands and swampy meadows, caused by the 1660 flood, where the Aa River was running through. These meadows were regularly flooded, sometimes the water level rose high enough to flood the historic downtown of Münster. As early as 1888, Hermann Landois, a professor of zoology in Münster, advocated for the construction of an "Aa basin" to better control the level of the Aa River. At the same time, Landois wanted to guarantee the city's drinking water supply with the reservoir, enable sports activities such as rowing, sailing and swimming. The lake should contribute to the city's beautification, and also reduce the source of pathogens by flushing the Aa bed, since the Aa also acts as a sewage canal for the city. In spring 1914, a quarter of a century after Landois´ explanations and nine years after his death, Italian workers started to implement his visions to reduce the risk of flooding for the city of Münster. However, the excavation for the artificial lake had already been interrupted that year by World War I. The construction, under mayor Georg Sperlich, was only resumed after a serious flooding in 1925. The lake was finally completed in 1934 with a water surface of 20.7 hectares (51 acres). Under the Nazis there were plans to build an amphitheatre in the surrounding meadows. These plans were discarded after the end of the war and, instead, in 1972 to 1976 the lake south of the Torminbridge was expanded by 19.5 hectares (48 acres) to almost double the size, as part of the construction work for the Münster Allwetterzoo. In 1976, the park areas were enlarged by 50 hectares to a total of 90 hectares, with about 10 kilometers of trails that run through it and around 18 hectares (44 acres) of lawn for recreation. Later, shallow water zones were created on the banks of the new part of the Aasee. They were intended to reduce the nutrition load of the inflowing water. In 1996 the riverside landscape was redesigned as far as Haus Kump. In 2008 the Aaseeterrassen were opened. These steps for visitors to sit on are on the most northern point of the water near to the city. The lake "Aasee" area is home to three restaurants, a boat rental, a boating school and three sailing clubs: Segel-Club Münster, Segelclub Hansa Münster and Westfälisch-Holsteinische Seglervereinigung mit Hochschulsegelclub Münster (WHS/HSC).

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.