The Fascinating Wildlife in Deep Mountain Lakes

Germany’s inland waterways, rivers, streams and lakes are a colourful and, in some cases, virtually untouched natural refuge. Hardly any two bodies of water are the same. A magical delve into their depths provides insights into bizarre and often completely unknown worlds. From a microcosm of millions of tiny dancing organisms, to exotic immigrants, to the giants of the deep – sturgeon and sheatfish, our largest native freshwater fish. An unusual expedition takes audiences from the snow-capped peaks and glaciers of the Alps, to the Mittelgebirge low mountain range, to the North Sea, showing perhaps the most colourful side of Germany’s natural world, but certainly the least known: our local waters.

The journey begins at the Watzmann mountain. Every year, tiny drops are released from the ceiling of the Eiskapelle (“Ice Chapel”), collectively forming streamlets, before thundering their way into the valley as the Eisbach river. The Röthbach, fed by vast quantities of snowmelt, similarly crashes down 475 m as Germany’s highest waterfall, before petering out at the foot of the mountain massif.

We jump in to explore a fascinating universe in Lake Königssee, near Berchtesgaden. The beauty of this underwater world is breathtaking. Pike, perch and minnows are all part of this turquoise “fantasy land”. The journey follows the water’s course down into the valley, partly above ground and partly underground. The next step is Germany’s deepest lake, Lake Constance, and its inhabitants like the giant sheatfish, which measures up to an awe-inspiring 3 metres in length. The camera descends next to the Marienschlucht to capture Germany’s largest inland ship graveyard away from any sunlight. As spring arrives, the inhabitants’ lives revolve around mating, caring for broods, and hunting. From Lake Constance, we head up into the Black Forest to the mysterious Lake Schluchsee, with its dark water and biodiverse Wutachschlucht, Germany’s longest canyon. With countless karst caves created by the water over millions of years, the Swabian Jura is like something from another planet. Bizarre dripstone caves and underground lakes today still remain undiscovered. The Altrhein, considered Germany’s Amazon, similarly gives reason to doubt whether its magnificent underwater world really is part of our local natural scenery. Dazzling, colourful carpets of bacteria which form on the floor of the Rheinaue wetlands in autumn are reminiscent of distant galaxies, surreal and beautiful. The first part ends under a blanket of ice, which protects the now dormant underwater dwellers. The second part heads up into Germany’s north, which is home to a completely different underwater world.

State-of-the-art underwater camera equipment, as well as cranes and aerial shots, are used to present a never-before-seen side of Germany, resulting in a fascinating journey into the country’s unchartered depths, from the Alps to the Rhine.

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