Lünersee

At around 1,970 m in the Rätikon, the Lünersee is regarded as one of the most beautiful mountain lakes in Vorarlberg and shimmers intense turquoise before the backdrop of the Schesaplana and Zimba. A cable car from the Brandnertal opens up the lake, used as a reservoir; an easy loop runs along the shore.

Highlights

• Intense turquoise mountain lake at 1,970 m
• Backdrop of Schesaplana and Zimba
• Cable car from the Brandnertal
• Easy lake loop

Good to know

Practical info

Background & History

The Lünersee lies at around 1,970 metres altitude in the heart of the Rätikon in Vorarlberg, framed by an impressive ring of rugged limestone peaks, among which the mighty Schesaplana rises as the highest mountain of the range. The lake was once regarded as the largest natural high-mountain lake in the Eastern Alps, but in the 20th century it was raised by a dam wall for hydropower, so that the original lake and the power station basin today merge into a luminous turquoise-blue mirror, conveniently reachable by cable car.

Around the origin of the lake winds an old legend of the wicked dairymaid Lün, who is said to have been cursed for her arrogance and hard-heartedness, whereupon the alpine pasture sank into the water and the lake received her name, a tale such as is often told in the Alps as a warning against meanness and waste. The Rätikon itself consists of light limestone rock that once formed on the bed of a primeval sea and was later lifted up when the Alps folded, which is why petrified sea creatures can still be found in the walls. From the lakeshore classic high-altitude trails such as the Rätikon High Trail lead into the surrounding rock world. Thus the Lünersee reflects myth, natural history and human intervention in its quiet heights.