The winter break is over just in time for Easter – the ships on Lake Ammer and Lake Starnberg started their season on Easter Sunday. “Both Starnberger See, Ammersee, Tegernsee and Königssee are popular holiday or excursion destinations for guests from near and far,” said Finance Minister Albert Füracker (CSU) on Saturday, according to a press release at the official start of the season. The shipping on the lakes offers a very special perspective “of our beautiful foothills of the Alps”. On the Tegernsee, the season had already started on March 25th, on the Königssee the ships are on the move all year round. According to Social Affairs Minister Ulrike Scharf (CSU), anyone who has a volunteer card in Bavaria can in future travel free of charge on the ships across the four lakes: the offer is valid for an unlimited number of trips.
Füracker explained that Bavarian lake shipping returned to profitability in 2022 and achieved an annual surplus of around one million euros. In total, the ships on the four lakes counted around 1.3 million passengers last year, which, according to Füracker, is around 41 percent more than in 2021. At that time, however, a number of corona restrictions still applied. According to the company, it has 30 ships and around 160 employees – and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Free State.