Another lake with supposedly otherworldly inhabitants is the Mummelsee. Wrapped in Black Forest firs, legend tells that this is the domain of the Mummlein. Essentially mermaids, the Mummlein are a community of amphibious women who can walk on the land when morning comes, but who must return to their king in his underwater crystal castle at nightfall – or risk losing their lives. Under the light of the moon, it is said they dance on the surface of the Mummelsee.

Unearth the myths and legends behind the world's wild places

Secrets of the Black Forest, Germany's most mysterious landscape