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Out of Bridges, Austrian Wants to Sell You a Lake

Nicolette Waechter is tired of her family's lake in the resort district of Salzkammergut in Austria. So she's selling Mondsee, and €16 million ($24 million) seems to be the going price.

Mondsee, or Moon Lake, is about a mile wide and 10 miles long, and it's one of only five lakes of substantial size in Austria that is still privately owned. It's also part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it has lent its name to a Neolithic people who built pile dwellings on its shores between 3600 BC and 3300 BC.

But it's not without problems: Waechter has lost numerous court cases trying to ban motorboats on the lake. At least one potential buyer would probably be happy with those rulings, though. Local tabloids say billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, the co-creator of Red Bull, is interested.

Related Stories:
· One of Austria's Privately Owned Lakes for Sale [AFP, via Google]
· World Heritage Sites coverage [Jaunted]