Lac des Truites

Lac des Truites is a lake in the municipality of Soultzeren. It means Lake of Trouts in English.

Geography

At an elevation of 1061m, its surface area is 2.8 hectares and is the highest lake of the Vosges massif. The lake on one side has been made into a barrage, in part to fortify the lakeside but also making it possible to regulate the flow of water into the Fecht.

Toponymy

The original Alsatian name of the lake was Förlenweier. Frenchifying the toponyms of Alsace, the lake was first called Lac du Foehrlé which then became Lac du Forlet.
It seems however that French authorities misread Förle as a diminutive of the German word Forelle which in French is truite, whence the name, when in fact it is a diminutive of Föhre which means pine, meaning the name was in fact lake surrounded by small pine. It may also have something to do with the fact that the Abbey of Murbach used the lake as a reservoir for trout.
In Welche the lake is called reïf tou blan.