Historical Discovery

A 67-year-old message in a bottle has now been unearthed

This year, Lake Nussensee has almost completely dried up and is now revealing a number of secrets.(Bild: Schiller)

While fishermen were using drones to recover dead trout and 600 kilograms of World War II explosives were discovered, Lake Nussensee in Bad Ischl (Upper Austria) has now also revealed a “treasure.” A bottle containing a message, sunk decades ago, was fished out of the water.

Lake Nussensee in Bad Ischl is actually up to 18 meters deep and covers an area of up to ten hectares. However, following the hot summer, it has shrunk to a meager pond with a water depth of just three meters. As reported, fishermen have been struggling to save as many fish as possible.

But because the receding water kept exposing relics from World War II, access to the lake had to be closed off. The closure has been in effect continuously since August 10—even for the fishermen. They have since received aerial support, as authorities have granted permission to fly over the lake. And so, with the help of a drone equipped with a type of landing net, the anglers are searching the lake for dead fish and collecting them.

Fishermen trying to save as many aquatic animals as possible.(Bild: FROG Fischereiverband Oberes Salzkammergut)

Lake Nussensee has almost completely dried up this year and is now revealing quite a few secrets.(Bild: Schiller)

But in addition to World War II relics—600 kilograms of TNT have already been disposed of—the falling water level has also brought to light a harmless but exciting treasure: a message in a bottle.

It had been attached to a stake and sunk into the lake in 1959—officially and on behalf of the Bad Ischl municipal office. Even back then, the water level was so low that people wanted to leave a message via the message in a bottle. However, the bottle is said not to be the original but to have been replaced 13 years later, when Lake Nussensee had dropped to a “historic” low again.

Now fishermen have rediscovered the bottle, which is to be examined by an expert and could actually have been found as early as 2006. That’s because 20 years ago, Lake Nussensee had also shrunk to the size of a soccer field and was barely two meters deep. At that time, the lake had drained away under a thick layer of ice, and hundreds of fish died.