Lake Neusiedl

Lake Neusiedl in northern Burgenland is one of the few steppe lakes in Europe and the largest lake in Central Europe without a natural outflow. Depending on the water level it covers around 320 square kilometres; the larger part lies in Austria, the south in Hungary, where it is called Fertő tó. Despite its size it is very shallow: even at its deepest points it is barely two metres deep.

About half of the lake’s surface is covered with reeds. After the Danube Delta, this is the largest continuous reed area in Europe and home to rich wildlife. The landscape is protected by the Neusiedler See-Seewinkel and Fertő-Hanság national parks, and since 2001 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site as the Fertő/Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape. Vineyards cover the slopes around the lake.

The water level depends heavily on rainfall and varies considerably. The lake last dried up completely between 1864 and 1870, when rice was even grown on the dry lake bed. With global warming, it is once again at risk of drying out. Visitors come for sailing, surfing and swimming, for example at Podersdorf on the only stretch of shore without reeds, for the cycle path of around 135 kilometres around the lake, and in summer for the operettas of the Mörbisch Lake Festival on a stage by the water.