Strandbad Langener Waldsee - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

The Langener Waldsee in Langen (Hesse), located about 15 km south of Frankfurt am Main, is with 89 hectares the largest bathing lake and the largest water surface in the Rhine-Main area.

Use

Langener Waldsee offers a 900-meter-long sandy beach on about seven hectares of secluded swimming areas, plus opportunities for surfing, sailing, fishing and camping, as well as a large nudist area. Open from early May to mid-September, the municipal facility has 800 interior parking spaces, with limited outdoor parking.

The use of the lake is relatively strictly separated: while the north shore was assigned the bathing, sports and recreational function, the partially shallow south shore is left to nature. Only inflatable boats are allowed in the beach area. The use of the remaining water area for fishing and water sports of all kinds is regulated by a special agreement between the city of Langen and the water sports clubs located on the north shore. The entire area except the north shore is company property of the Sehring company; numerous signs indicate that entering the shore as well as bathing is prohibited.

On hot summer days, up to 20,000 people visit the lake, so there are often major traffic jams around, which are broadcast on the traffic news of regional radio stations. If you want to avoid these traffic jams, you can easily take the Waldsee bus from the Dreieich-Buchschlag S-Bahn station directly to the entrance. Admission prices for this nature-oriented lido are somewhat lower than those of municipal pools.

Event

Since 2002, the 3,800-meter swim of a long-distance triathlon has been held here every July as part of the Ironman Germany, with some 2,000 athletes from 40 nations taking part. Every year, about 15,000 spectators gather at the Langener Waldsee for the start in the morning. Since 2010, the Frankfurt City Triathlon has also started here annually with the swim over 400, 750, 1,500 and 2,000 m respectively. In 2011 and 2015, a baptism ceremony was held at Langener Waldsee by the twelve church congregations in the Dreieich Protestant Deanery. For the first time, in 2018, a "Yoga Beach Festival" took place at the Waldsee.

Location and size

The Langener Waldsee is for the most part a former dredging lake, but on the western edge it is still used today. It is part of a 240-hectare area with other small lakes, where the company Sehring Sand & Kies GmbH & Co KG has been mining high-quartz Main sands and gravels since 1927. These are mainly processed as concrete aggregates in the neighboring ready-mix concrete plant.

According to DKP Mörfelden-Walldorf, which among other things campaigns for the preservation of forests in the region, approximately 30 hectares of forest, including approximately 15 hectares of Bannwald forest, had been cleared for mining operations in the 40 years up to 2018. Further clearing of approximately 60 hectares was planned. 

The water body is an open groundwater cut with no tributaries, surrounded by large areas of forest. A problem is soil erosion at the flattened bathing banks: here sand has to be refilled regularly because the open areas harden and would otherwise lie bare full of channel-like depressions.