5 curiosities about Lake Balaton you didn’t know

Until the 19th century, Lake Balaton was more of a problem than a resort. Its marshy shores and frequent floods caused many settlers to turn away from it, and the cult of the ‘Hungarian Sea’ only emerged during the Reform Era. For centuries, the water level of the lake fluctuated greatly, making farming and transportation along the shore difficult. As a result, Lake Balaton long remained an unpredictable force of nature that seemed to cause nothing but trouble. However, the water regulation works that began in the 19th century, along with the development of transportation and bathing culture, gradually reshaped this image. Instead of being seen as a dangerous body of water, it increasingly became a symbol of national pride and relaxation.

During the Reform Era (1825–1848), Lake Balaton gradually became a fashionable destination, primarily among the noble and bourgeois elite. Already a well-known spa and social hub by the first half of the 19th century, Balatonfüred played a key role in this—the Anna balls, bathing culture and cultural events made it an important stage for the social life of the era. At the end of the 18th century, Balatonfüred operated as a prominent spa, primarily thanks to its sour-water springs. Initially not a typical holiday resort, but rather a medical centre, the town was primarily frequented by patients with heart and nervous system ailments.

The Reform Era national movement also discovered Lake Balaton as the ‘Hungarian Sea,’ symbolising the beauty of the local landscape and national identity. Writers, poets and politicians regularly visited the lake, further enhancing its prestige. The development of transportation, particularly the advent of steamships in the mid-19th century, also contributed to making Lake Balaton an increasingly popular and accessible destination.

During the Socialist era, Lake Balaton held a special role as one of the few places where East and West Germans could meet relatively freely—a rarity during the Cold War. For East Germans, Hungary was an accessible destination, and West Germans could travel there without a visa. As a consequence, from the 1960s until 1989, Lake Balaton became an important meeting place for family and friends. From 1961, after the construction of the Berlin Wall, East Germany regarded preventing defection—fleeing to Western countries—as a priority task. During this period, the region of the lake was closely monitored, as large numbers of East and West German tourists holidayed there at the same time. In 1975, more than 323,000 East German tourists crossed over to Hungary. It was also a hotspot for secret agents, who often posed as young couples and blended in with the holidaying East German families using tents and camping equipment. They tried to determine, through private conversations, who had truly come just to holiday and who might be considering fleeing to the West.

It may be hard to believe, but it’s true—in strong winds, the water level of Lake Balaton can differ by as much as 60–70 centimetres between the lake’s two ends, as the wind pushes the water from one side to the other. In other words, the water surface ‘tilts’ to one side. For example, when cyclone winds of 100 kilometres per hour hit the country, water level differences of up to 82 centimetres have been recorded between the eastern and western ends of Lake Balaton.

Icy winters used to be a regular feature of everyday life at Lake Balaton. For much of the 20th century, thick ice covered the lake almost every year, with people holding skating competitions and sliding along on wooden sleds. But the ice on Lake Balaton was also an official transportation route. People crossed it with carts, and even postal services operated over it. Until the late 1990s, it was considered unusual if a winter passed without continuous ice forming on the lake—a phenomenon that has become increasingly rare. The last time Lake Balaton had a truly thick ice cover was in early 2017, when severe frost arrived early and persisted. Since then, several winters have passed with the lake freezing only partially and for a short time, clearly showing how much the weather has changed over the past decades. Interestingly, the wind can move not only the water but also the ice. The accumulating ice floes can form spectacular ridges along the shore, sometimes reaching several metres in height. In January 2025, we were finally able to enjoy the sight of a frozen Lake Balaton again, with people skating and playing ice hockey on it. On the southern shore, the shoreline was covered with solid, high-quality ice 13–19 centimetres thick, while on the northern shore it measured 10–15 centimetres. Experienced long-distance skaters even crossed the lake sideways!