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History of the lake Kummer / "Kummersee"
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Lake Kummer
The beginnings of the lake were formed in the last Ice Age by glacier movement and landslides which happened around the village of Corvara. The basin south of Corvara was completely blocked by a landslide in 1401 and the lake was formed. The lake was given its name “Kummer” because of the movement that went on.
8 Eruptions
22nd September 1419, 14th September 1503, 30th September 1512,
21st Mai 1572, 18th June 1721, 17th September 1772, 9th September 1773, 22nd October 1774
Consequences
The town of Merano suffered severe damage from the eruptions of Lake Kummer. More than half of the town was destroyed including the hospital and its church, the newly built ring wall and towers were carried into the middle of town, the stone pathway and much more.
Inscriptions in the town museum and the hospital church, along with many records in the town archives of Meran and Innsbruck are proof of this. The city of Innsbruck elected a committee to work on preventing further eruptions. One member of the committee was Michael Winnebacher who lived for a long time in Moso and who wrote a poem about how the lake was formed.
