Water again at last!

Hope returns to the Zicksee with life

February 2025: A little more and the waterslide will make sense again.(Bild: Charlotte Titz)

The once dried-up body of water in the district of Neusiedl am See (Burgenland) has been revived and is now a bird paradise. Will bathers ever get their money's worth again?

The photo documents from August 2022 still have an impact. Thousands of fish died in agony, leaving behind a steppe landscape - where the much-loved Zicksee had once been in the district of Neusiedl am See.

After two dry years, the Zicksee was given a boost with pumps from six wells from August 2024. These were turned off at the turn of the year and will only be turned on again when the water level drops below 119.35 meters above the Adriatic Sea, reports the mayor of St. Andrä, Michael Schmidt (SPÖ). "Of course, you have to keep an eye on the groundwater level. If there is a risk of it getting too low, an external water supply for our lake is not possible."

June 2023: The waterslide just stands there in the void.(Bild: Huber Patrick)

Hope is back
Thanks to these measures, life has finally returned to the Zicksee. The lake is buzzing with coots, geese and ducks. Pairs of swans have also returned. "I can't predict what will happen to swimming here in the future," says Schmidt. "But at least there is hope again." Admittedly, there have been fewer visitors during the drought. Who doesn't come to see anything? But: "Tourists and day trippers enjoy the nature, the peace and quiet. They go on bike rides or walks. Just like the people being treated in the special hospital."

No, the "Seeblick" restaurant is not closed. It's just a day off.(Bild: Charlotte Titz)

Something is happening
Schmidt also notices "that something is slowly happening again". It is too early to release fish - the water level is around half a meter. "It's quite possible that there are already some inside. But that's down to the birds, which unconsciously release the spawn."

The well-established restaurants around the Zicksee lake have suffered losses, of course, but nobody has had to close. So it seems to have been a wise decision by landlady Luzia Skerlan not to rename her inn "Seeblick".