Hardly any other stamp in this series comes closer to the topic of holidays than this one, since a freak of nature guarantees Lake Wörthersee clean water and a wonderful temperature of between 25° and 28° C, making it an ideal bathing lake attracting thousands of holidaymakers. The River Drau, which appears to be heading straight for the lake, changes direction two kilometres before what would be its point of entry into the lake, without any apparent cause in the terrain (naturally caused by geomorphological factors). It flows in three meanders south-east and only then returns to its easterly course. This means that the lake is not cooled and contaminated by cold mountain water.

Maria Wörth, the village located on the south shore and the source of the lake's name, is the most rewarding of all the villages around the lake in terms of cultural history, if one ignores Klagenfurt, whose town centre is not on the lake anyway. Maria Wörth's church is one of the oldest in Carinthia, and was the base for the missionary activity that originated from Freising following the migration of the peoples. Until the 18th century, the church was on an island, which also protected it against destruction and plundering by the Turks.

Today, the region around the 19.3 km long and 1.7 km wide lake, the product of an ice age glacier basin, can satisfy practically every holidaymaker's wishes in the form of accommodation of all categories and a wide range of facilities for all types of leisure activities.

€ 0.25: Mondsee / Upper Austria

A rock rising out of the waters of the lake bears two crucifixes, for which no clear reason has yet been found. The 11 km long and 2 km wide lake is fed by the Wangauer Ache and the waters running off from the Fuschlsee and Irrsee lakes. Lake Mondsee itself drains into Lake Attersee. During the bathing period, the temperature is between 20° and 24° C, making it by far the warmest of the lakes in the Salzkammergut.

In 1864, the remainders of a lake dwelling village were found by the outlet from the lake, along with dug-out canoes and incrusted ceramics (ornamentation is engraved in vessels before firing, and then filled with a chalk mass) from the Neolithic Age (the Mondsee Culture). Of interest is the fact that until 1950 fishermen on Lake Mondsee continued to use dug-out canoes that still cut out of long tree trunks. Milestones and the foundations of villas from the Roman age are a further testimony to the past of this ancient settlement region.

Mondsee Monastery was founded by Duke Odilon of Bavaria in 748 and settled by monks from the island of Reichenau in Lake Constance, who adopted the Benedictine rule of "pray and work" around 800. They flourished until the monastery was abolished in 1791. Many trade businesses were founded in the surroundings, a phenomenon that continues to have effect today and has been further consolidated by the tourism business that developed after 1930.