The Müritz ( German: [ˈmyːʁɪts] ; from Slavic "little sea") is a lake in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , northern Germany . Its area is 117 km (45 sq mi), which makes it the second largest lake in Germany (after Lake Constance ) and the largest lake located entirely within German territory.
10-581: Its maximum depth is 31 metres (102 ft). It is fed and drained by the river Elde . Part of the Müritz and adjacent forests and wetlands are protected by the Müritz National Park . The former Müritz district was named after the lake. The biggest towns bordering the lake are Waren (Müritz) and Röbel , both major centres of tourism in the Mecklenburg Lake District . Lake Müritz is part of
20-786: A catchment area of about 663 square kilometres (256 sq mi). The Müritz is crossed by the River Elde from south to north and has a link to the Kölpinsee in the west from the Binnenmüritz via the Reeck Canal (also Eldenburg Canal) which is a good two kilometres long. Because it also feeds the River Havel to the east via the Mirow Canal , which is part of the Müritz-Havel Waterway , and
30-776: A series of small lakes, and along the town of Malchow, until the Plauer See . It flows out of the Plauer See at Plau am See , and continues west and southwest through Lübz , Parchim , Neustadt-Glewe , Grabow and Eldena , and flows into the Elbe at Dömitz . Near Eldena, the Alte Elde branches off and flows into the Löcknitz (another tributary of the Elbe) near Eldenburg , part of Lenzen (Elbe) . For much of its length, 180 kilometres (110 mi), it forms
40-527: Is a river in northern Germany ( Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and a few km in Brandenburg ), a right tributary of the Elbe . Its total length is 220 kilometres (140 mi). The Elde originates near Altenhof , south of Malchow . It first flows southeast towards the southern end of Lake Müritz , which it enters at Vipperow . It flows out of the Müritz at its northern end, near Waren . It turns west, and flows through
50-682: The Bolter Canal as well as via the chains of adjoining lakes, it has artificially been turned into a bifurcated waterway. Lake Müritz was formed during the Weichselian glaciation between the Pomeranian and the Frankfurt Stages. Originally the entire Mecklenburg Lake District was a huge lake, that split into several smaller lakes, linked to one another, as a result of a fall in sea level. The water level of Lake Müritz has changed several times in
60-571: The Müritz-Elde Waterway , a Class I federal waterway . It is managed by the Lauenburg Waterway and Shipping Authority ( Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Lauenburg ). The Müritz Basin is divided into several large bays. Unlike the shallow eastern part of the lake, the western side is divided into several channel-like inlets like the Bays of Röbel and Sietow ( Röbeler Bucht and Sietower Bucht ). By
70-471: The navigable Müritz-Elde-Wasserstraße , with 17 locks . The Elde is murky, due to the fast erosion of the valley around it. This article related to a river in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a river in Brandenburg is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Vipperow Vipperow is
80-527: The preceding centuries, primarily as a result of human influences. In the 12th century the surface of the lake was still 60.5 metres (198 ft) above sea level. By 1737 the lake surface had risen to 64.35 metres (211.1 ft) as a result of the waterway being impounded in several positive and negative stages in order, for example, to drive mills along the River Elde downstream. But by 1739 the mill reservoir had been lowered by around 1.51 metres (5.0 ft). In
90-703: The town of Waren on the northern shore of the lake is the Binnenmüritz , which contains the deepest point of the lake (−31 metres), and only has a narrow strait connecting it to the main basin of Lake Müritz. At the southern shore is the Little Müritz ( Kleine Müritz ) from which the Müritzarm and the Müritzsee branch off further to the south. Lake Müritz measures about 29 kilometres (18 mi) from north to south and about 13 kilometres (8 mi) from east to west; and has
100-490: The wake of two adjustments to the Elde and two further changes to the mill impoundment the water level reached its present level of 62 m above sea level (NN) in 1836. The largest town on Lake Müritz is Waren (Müritz) . Other settlements are (clockwise) Rechlin , Priborn , Vipperow , Ludorf , Röbel/Müritz , Gotthun , Sietow and Klink . Elde The Elde ( German pronunciation: [ˈɛldə] )
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