Geiseltalsee, literally Geisel valley lake, is at about 1,840 hectares (4,500 acres) the largest artificial lake by area in Germany.
Geiseltalsee lies in the Saalekreis district of the state Saxony-Anhalt. The lake was created in 2003 by flooding a former opencast lignite mine in the Geiseltal (Geisel valley); the name of that valley had become widely known due to the notable fossil record which emerged from that coal mine.
