Hariksee

The Hariksee on the Lower Rhine, between Schwalmtal and Niederkruechten, is a recreational area of the middle Rhine region.

The Hariksee has a water surface of about 20 ha and has an age of about 8,000 to 12,000 years. The current shape was formed by flows from the lake through the Schwalm Austorfungen in the 17th century. The shore of Hariksees consists of swamp forest zones and from overgrown with alder bogs.

Tourism

In the 1920s, the Harikseetourismus with a beach on the eastern shore as well as a catering facility for guests began. On the grounds of the former lido is now home to a weekend home area and a mini golf course. The shore of the lake is therefore not publicly accessible to almost 95%. Furthermore, one can explore the lake with pedal boats borrowed, rowboats, kayaks and electric boats. Between the piers Mühlrather mill and island castle runs the ferry Patschel.

Built in 1891, on the southern tributary absorbed. Island castle burned in March 2002 down to its foundations and was rebuilt by the end of 2003. It now houses a tourist restaurant again. Pioneers of Hariksee tourism were probably Kruff Paul and his wife Anne Marie. Paul Kruff was also the first " Patschelkapitän ".

Also worth seeing is the location at the northern outlet of the lake Mühlrather mill. The supposedly oldest water mill in the Lower Rhine from 1447 used the Hariksee once as a water reservoir.

The landscape of the Hariksee is written in excellent pictorial representations in the single " otter -Roman" in the world. This novel wrote Heinrich Malzkorn 1949 and named his main character " Patschel ". The image of the landscape of 1949 no longer complies with the 2012 however.

Mühlrather mill in August 2003

Mühlrather mill in August 2009 after reconstruction