Steinhude Swimming Island

This is a seaside vacation: With 300 meters of the finest sandy beach, shallow waters, and plenty of fun activities, this Beach Island offers the perfect setting for a perfect day at the beach—and not just for families with children. It’s time to grab your water wings, inflate your air mattresses, and head out into Lake Steinhuder Meer. And when the beachgoers leave the shore, things don’t always quiet down right away. During the season, this idyllic island also hosts a variety of music events, ensuring there’s plenty of fun to be had here in the evening as well.

The Beach Island is located on the southeastern shore of Lake Steinhuder Meer, the largest shallow lake in Germany.

The EU has rated the quality of this bathing water as satisfactory. During the bathing season, from May 15 to September 15, the Region Hannover monitors water quality. You can view the results by clicking the link below.

Read the results of the bathing water analysis

Overview:
Water surface area: 2,910 ha
; maximum depth: 2.9 m
; length of the swimming area: 100 m
; Food and beverage options: kiosk, café, bistro beer garden
; Restroom facilities: restrooms, beach showers

Infrastructure

Water area:
31 square kilometers of water, large shallow water zone, rubber boats and inflatable mattresses permitted

Amenities:
restroom, shower, changing room, sunbathing area, sandy beach, trees

Activities:
Ball games, a great playground with fun equipment, an observation tower, and the permanent exhibition "Nature and the Environment at Lake Steinhuder Meer"

Dining:
Kiosk, café, bistro beer garden

Steinhude Beach Island Information Profile

Lake Steinhuder Meer is designated as a landscape conservation area and is surrounded by several nature reserves. The lake is largely fed by groundwater. Additional water flows into the lake via four tributaries. The towns of Steinhude and Mardorf, located on the lake, discharge rainwater into Lake Steinhuder Meer via a separate sewer system. Through these channels, many nutrients enter the lake, which promote the growth of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). Some types of “blue-green algae” excrete metabolic byproducts that can cause allergic or toxic health problems in humans and animals. Mass accumulations of blue-green algae, known as algal blooms, are recognizable by a bluish-greenish cloudiness in the water, ranging from streaks to foam mountains or cream-like layers on the water’s surface.
Rainwater runoff carries dirt into the lake along with the rain, which may contain bacteria. During heavy rainfall, these bacteria can reach the swimming area and affect the hygienic quality of the bathing water.

The Department of Health, as the responsible authority, conducts regular tests of the bathing water at the bathing site. The first water sample is taken before the start of the season. During the bathing season, from May 15 to September 15, samples are taken once a month. The water is tested for the indicator bacteria Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci. These results are published here and on the Lower Saxony State Health Office’s bathing water portal, among other places.

If the authorities become aware of the occurrence of mass proliferation of blue-green algae, the water is tested for blue-green algae and an official warning is issued about the acute occurrence of blue-green algae. If large quantities of toxic blue-green algae are detected, a bathing ban is issued and published on site and on the Internet.

© Region Hannover

Phosphorus at Lake Steinhuder Meer

Beware of fake amber

It looks like amber, but is highly toxic and can cause severe burns: White phosphorus is a dangerous remnant of the Second World War.

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