Location Hungary
Coordinates 46°50′N
17°44′ECoordinates: 46°50′N 17°44′E
Type Rift lake
Primary inflows Zala
River
Primary outflows Sió
Catchment area 5,174
km2 1,998 sq mi
Basin countries Hungary
Max. length 77
km 48 mi
Max. width 14
km 8.7 mi
Surface area 592
km2 229 sq mi
Average depth 3.2 m 10
ft
Max. depth 12.2
m 40 ft
Water volume 1.9 km3
0.46 cu mi
Residence time 2 years
Shore length1 236 km
147 mi
Surface elevation 104.8
m 344 ft
In Hungarian, the lake is known simply as Balaton, or
"the Balaton". This name derives from the Slavic blato meaning 'mud'
or 'swamp' from earlier Proto-Slavic boltьno, Slovene: Blatno jezero, Slovak:
Blatenské jazeroSlavic prince Pribina began to build in January 846 a fortress
as his seat of power and several churches in the region of Lake Balaton, in a
territory of modern Zalavár surrounded by forests and swamps along the river
Zala. His well fortified castle and capital of Balaton Principality that became
known as Blatnohrad or Moosburg "Swamp Fortress" served as a bulwark
both against the Bulgarians and the Moravians.
The Romans called the lake Lacus Pelso "Lake
Pelso".Pelso derives from a local name for the lake, perhaps from the
Illyrian language, as the Illyrians once populated the region. Paleolinguists
who? surmise that "Pelso" meant "shallow" in Illyrian; this
deduction is based on a surmised Proto-Indo-European root *pels-.citation
needed
The German name for the lake is Plattensee. It is unlikely
that the Germans named the lake so for being shallow since the adjective platt
is a Greek loanword that was borrowed via French and entered the general German
vocabulary in the 17th century. It is also noteworthy that the average depth of
Balaton 3.2m is not extraordinary for the area cf. the average depth of the neighbouring
Neusiedler See, which is roughly 1m.
Climate
Map of Balaton in ancient times
Lake Balaton affects the local area precipitation every
year. The area receives approximately two to three inches 5–7 cm more
precipitation than most of Hungary, resulting in more cloudy days and less
extreme temperatures. The lake's surface freezes during winters. The
microclimate around Lake Balaton has also made the region ideal for
viniculture. The lake, acting as a mirror, greatly increases the amount of
sunlight that the grapevines of the region receive.citation needed The
Mediterranean-like climate, combined with the soil containing volcanic rock,
has made the region notable for its production of wines since the Roman period
two thousand years ago.
While a few settlements on Lake Balaton, including
Balatonfüred and Hévíz, have long been resort centres for the Hungarian
aristocracy, it was only in the late 19th century that the Hungarian middle
class began to visit the lake. The construction of railways in 1861 and 1909
increased tourism substantially, but the post-war boom of the 1950s was much
larger.
The last major German offensive of World War II, Operation
Frühlingserwachen, was conducted in the region of Lake Balaton in March 1945,
being referred to as "the Lake Balaton Offensive" in many British
histories of the war. The battle was a German attack by Sepp Dietrich's Sixth
Panzer Army and the Hungarian Third Army between 6 March and 16 March 1945, and
in the end, resulted in a Red Army victory. Several Ilyushin Il-2 wrecks have
been pulled out of the lake after having been shot down during the latter
months of the war.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Balaton became a major tourist
destination for ordinary working Hungarians and especially for subsidised
holiday excursions for union members. It also attracted many East Germans and
other residents of the Eastern Bloc. West Germans could also visit, making
Balaton a common meeting place for families and friends separated by the Berlin
Wall until 1989.
The collapse of Communism after 1991 and the
dismantling of the unions saw the gradual but steady reduction in numbers of
lower-paid Hungarians
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