 The lake began as a reservoir, built in 1908 as part of the construction of the Schwentine Hydropower Plants ("Schwentine Wasserkraftwerke") by the shipyard builder, Bernhard Howaldt, and today is a fundamental component of the landscape park of the River Schwentine.To achieve this, Howaldt had first to buy up lands along the Schwentine from the Count of Rantzau and Preetz Priory.The price of a hectare at that time was about 2,000 marks.