Diving the Austrian Lakes

[LDR]

Any divers on the forum? This is quite interesting:

http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/arti...action=display

Lewis

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Lewis, people have recovered items from Austrian lakes.

But a word of warning for anyone considering this. The local Police are well aware of what might be found there and keep a very close eye upon anyone diving there. I have this on first hand local knowledge having just been to Austria last week.

Cheers, Ade.

[LDR]

I've also read its very dangerous with quite a few divers dying in the process. Would be interesting to know everything the Nazis threw in there.

[Johnny R]

Everything is the key word. I dive in the US and in Central America but we never find anything like that. I do know from my German family and talking to people that lived near the Mohne See in northern Germany that the lakes became dump points for large numbers of unwanted items, weapons etc. When I was there they would find cases of ammo and expolsives, anything under the sun when the water levels were dropped. An MP-40 was found when I was living near there but was turned over to the police before I saw it.

[Mr.Jerry D]

There is a diver bar in Hallstatt that has big display window on the side of the building full of stuff they have found; gasmasks, potatomashers, panzerfausts, etc. But nothing really good in there. It is amzing how well preserved the stuff is in that mountain cold water

Beautiful little town too.

[jotuntroll]

Hi
Anyone remember Broll and Etzel ?

[Ostmark]

There is a diver bar in Hallstatt that has big display window on the side of the building full of stuff they have found; gasmasks, potatomashers, panzerfausts, etc. But nothing really good in there. It is amzing how well preserved the stuff is in that mountain cold water

Beautiful little town too.

Here some pics of what you mentioned

[Ostmark]

Its really one of the nicest areas of austria

Hallstadt

[Ostmark]

Most of the times when you dive up to surface again a police boat is next to you ... And when you think you can hide stuff near the beach, what do you
think will happen

Anyway its nice to dive but its also dangerous, because didving in a lake is quite different from diving in the sea. This year we had already two dead divers in the Attersee ... be carefull

[Chris Lee]

Stuff

A guy I used to work with was 13 at the end of the war and was living on the outskirts of Wilhelmshaven. He said he remembers all the soldiers throwing weapons and various other Nazi related items in a pond close to where he lived. He said years later they drained the pond and filled it in and its now a parking lot

[Mr.Jerry D]

There was actually a really good hot-dog stand there too, near a boat launch.

[Nick VR]

That dagger looks amazing...

[vesuvio]

There is a B&B in Hallstatt that has a small museum on the 2nd floor. It has lots and lot of rusted decorations, plates etc. The owner organizes diving trips in and stated that you keep what you find (except weapons).
He and his brother were constant targets of journalists that were convinced that they were searching for Nazi gold. Fed up with it, they took an amo box, filled it with lead bars painted in gold color dropped it into the lake at night. The next day they dove into the lake and upon completion of the dive surfaced holding this amo box side by side. The journalist went crazy taking pictures believing that they had found Nazi gold.