The Lusatian Lake District (German: Lausitzer Seenland; Lower Sorbian: Łužyska jazorina; Upper Sorbian: Łužiska jězorina) is a landscape of artificial lakes in eastern Germany. Its basins are former opencast pits of lignite mining in Lusatia, which were filled with water as part of a regeneration programme. Several decommissioned lignite opencast mines are being transformed into what is intended to be Europe's largest artificial lake district. Official tourism material describes the area as the largest man-made water landscape in Europe.
Geography and extent
The district lies between Calau in Brandenburg and Görlitz in Saxony. Its footprint measures about 80 km from east to west, and between 32 and 40 km from north to south, depending on where the boundary is drawn. The region is roughly 130 km southeast of Berlin and 80 km northeast of Dresden.
German usage separates two terms. Seenland refers to the lake district as a region, while Seenkette refers to the chain of lakes. The Lusatian Lake Chain (Lausitzer Seenkette) is the subset of lakes joined by navigable canals, and it sits between Senftenberg and Hoyerswerda.
Figures for the water area vary by source. Official regional material gives a total of about 150 km² across more than 20 larger water bodies, with ten lakes covering about 70 km² that are connected by navigable canals. Tourism material focusing on the five largest lakes gives a combined water area of 52 km².
Background: lignite mining
Large deposits of brown coal were identified in the northern part of Upper Lusatia, and around Hoyerswerda, during the 19th century. Excavation in the region began in the mid-19th century. For more than a century, Lusatia was the second-largest lignite mining area in Germany. A Sorbian saying, often repeated in regional tourism literature, claims that God created Lusatia but the Devil placed coal beneath it.
Mining had serious social and environmental costs. Open-pit extraction destroyed large parts of the older cultural landscape. It also led to the destruction of many Sorbian villages, and the groundwater had to be lowered to make excavation possible.
Flooding and formation of the lakes
The flooding concept predates reunification. During the German Democratic Republic, planners envisioned filling the pits with nearby surface water rather than letting groundwater rise uncontrolled, and linking the resulting lakes into a chain for recreation. After 1990, the profitable parts of lignite mining were sold to investors, including the Swedish state-owned Vattenfall, while the state enterprise LMBV took responsibility for the damage left by mining.
Flooding has used both river water and groundwater since the 1970s. Official figures put the start of flooding in 1967 and its completion in 2025. Individual lakes followed their own timelines:
- Senftenberger See, formed from the Niemtsch mine, was completed in 1972.
- Gräbendorfer See was completed in 2007.
- Lake Sedlitz, once fully flooded, is expected to become the largest artificial lake in the district.
- The Lohsa II reservoir was created between 1997 and 2016.
- Bergheider See was flooded from 2001 to 2014, and it lies about 20 km from the canal network linking the other lakes.
- The Cottbuser Ostsee began flooding in 2019, with completion planned for 2030.
Principal lakes
Senftenberger See is among the oldest lakes in the region and was already a bathing destination in the GDR period. A 250-hectare island in the lake has been a nature conservation area since 1981. Sedlitzer See will connect to the navigable network through three canals.
Geierswalder See has been flooded and usable since 2006, and it offers a beach, restaurants, a hotel and a marina. Gräbendorfer See reaches a maximum depth of 55 m. Berzdorfer See forms the southeastern corner of the district and holds about 330 million cubic metres of water.
The Bergheider See has a visitor mine on its northern shore, opened in 2002, which displays what is described as the world's largest movable piece of mining equipment.
Recreation and economy
The lakes are used for swimming from clean sandy beaches, and a network of asphalt cycle paths runs between them. The Lakeland Route is a 191-kilometre long-distance cycle route that connects 16 lakes. Lake Senftenberg is promoted as the district's leading family destination. Tourism infrastructure has been developed in stages, and parts of it were still under construction in recent years.
Ecology and conservation
Shores are being stabilised section by section, and young pine forests are growing on former spoil heaps. An island in Gräbendorfer See belongs to a 170-hectare European bird sanctuary, the "Lusatian post-mining landscape," and hosts rare gulls. The shores of Bergheider See, apart from the bathing area, have been designated as nature preserves. Water for Gräbendorfer See partly originates from the Spree river.
The project is classed as a regeneration effort within the wider ecological restoration framework. Conservation and biodiversity goals sit alongside recreation, and some shoreline areas remain restricted. Parts of Lake Bluno and Lake Neuwiese lie within restricted zones.
Controversies and status
The project's requirements, particularly its water supply, are contested. Filling the lakes draws on groundwater and surface water that other uses also depend on, which is the central point of disagreement. Figures for the number and size of lakes also differ between sources, as shown above.
The landscape is still being completed. The Sedlitzer See reached its target level in 2025, while other lakes remain under construction.
Comparison with the Central German Lake District
The Lusatian Lake District shares part of its history with the Central German Lake District, a group of artificial lakes created by open-pit lignite mining around Leipzig. Both regions were placed under the management of LMBV, which handles the technical side of rehabilitation.
References
- Lusatian Lake Districten.wikipedia.org
- Site 38-M3lausitzerseenland.de
- Lusatian Lake District: Germany's largest man-made lakeslausitz-tourismus.de
- Upper Lusatiaen.wikipedia.org
- Lusatian Lake Districten.wikivoyage.org
- Lake Senftenberglausitzerseenland.de
- Lake Gräbendorflausitzerseenland.de
- Lake Sedlitzlausitzerseenland.de
- Lausitzer Seenland - junge Urlaubsregion zwischen Dresden & Berlinlausitzerseenland.de
- Bergheider Seeen.wikipedia.org
- Cottbuser Ostseeen.wikipedia.org
- Berzdorfer Seeen.wikipedia.org
- Lusatian Lake Districtsarauer.cz
- Oberlausitz: Lusatian Lakeland - Here comes happinessoberlausitz.com
- Central German Lake Districten.wikipedia.org