Achensee

The Lake Achen is a lake north of Jenbach  in Tyrol, Austria. It is the largest lake within the federal state, and has a maximal depth of 133 metres. Together with the Achental valley it parts the Karwendel  mountain range in the west from the Brandenberg Alps  in the east.

Water quality is near drinking water, with sight up to 10 m below the surface. An alpine lake, water temperature is accordingly low, rarely above 20°C. Its size and wind conditions make it suitable for windsurfing.

Eben am Achensee , Achenkirch , and Pertisau  are municipalities on the lake.

When the Unterinntalbahn railway was finished in 1859, tourism started to flourish. In order to make the abbey profit, the first steamboat St. Josef was acquired in 1887. Furthermore the construction of the 7 km long Achenseebahn  narrow gauge rack railway was initiated, which went into service in 1889 between Jenbach  and Seespitz. The same year, on July 21 a second steamboat, the St. Benedikt went into service. In 1890 the two boats with a capacity of 320 seats transported about 30,000 persons.

In 1911 a third scheduled boat, the Stella Maris went into service. It was the first passenger boat on a lake in the Danubian monarchy originally equipped with a diesel engine. The boat was designed for 400 passengers, and featured a particularly silent engine at low rpm, similar to those that later were used in the submarines of World War I.

However, the Stella Maris was difficult to manoeuvre. When the lake was bought by the city of Innsbruck in 1919, the boat was renamed into Stadt Innsbruck. In 1925 a motorboat named Tirol was acquired, and in 1927 for the first time more than 100,000 persons were transported.

In 1959 the St. Benedikt was replaced with a modern ship of the same name with a diesel engine. In 1971 the Tirol was replaced with a larger Tirol II for 40 passengers. In 1994 the MS Tirol went into service, replacing the Stadt Innsbruck, and in August 2007 the MS Stadt Innsbruck replaced the St. Benedikt.