Geiseltalsee - a hike to Frankleben Castle

We had heard several times about the Geiseltalsee, an opencast mining lake in southern Saxony-Anhalt, which is one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe. Now, finally, a visit to the lake should take place.

With almost 19 square kilometres, the Geiseltalsee is the largest artificial lake in Germany, making it one of the ten most water-rich lakes in Germany and the largest body of water in the central German lake district.

The weather forecast predicted relative rain for Saturday, because we wanted to use the visit to Geiseltalsee for a hike to Frankleben Castle, about 6.1 kilometres from our starting point.

We had chosen the Braunsbedra pier as the starting point for our exploration, which we also wanted to have a look at; also, because there is supposed to be a tourist information station there, which we wanted to visit right away.

To get straight to the point: A competent lady was able to provide us with complex information, so that we were really enthusiastic and would like our readers to benefit from it as well.

In addition to three 14-meter-high observation towers, numerous gastronomic and tourist facilities are under construction or in planning. The 15 m high Pauline observation tower has been on the outskirts of Stöbnitz, a district of the city of Mücheln above the Geiseltalrundweg, 1 km north of the marina there, since 2003. Unfortunately, the upper platform was closed for renovations at the time of our visit.

In the tourist information we heard for the first time about the 24-30 km long, z. T. paved bike path that circles the entire lake, sometimes even non-asphalted hiking trails run parallel.

The lake is also the starting point of the brine, coal and history cycle path to Lützen via Bad Dürrenberg, and the Dolmen, Goethe and Salzstraße cycle paths also lead past the lake.

We used the cycle path to get to Frankleben Castle with a stop at the central workshop Pfännerhall (a local cultural centre in the Geiseltal), where there is also a mobile home parking space.

Our path then led on a non-asphalted section (off the bike path) to Frankleben Castle, where we had a little snack with hot tea and bread, because the way back should also be exciting.

This time we chose the unpaved shore path, which also led us past the local diving school. Of course, there is also a lot to see underwater, because the water is incredibly clear and up to 80 meters deep.

Returning to the starting point, we were surprised to find the beach bar open as well. Even with live music in the form of a singing guitar player. What more do you want.

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