Templiner See is a lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in the state of Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It stretches to the south and west from the centre of the city of Potsdam

Potsdam

Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....

.

The lake is some 5.8 kilometres (3.6 mi) long, with a maximum width of 1.2 kilometre (0.745647283979768 mi) and a surface area is 5.11 square kilometres (2 sq mi). It lies at an elevation of 29.4 metres (96.5 ft) above sea level, and has a maximum depth of 6 metres (19.7 ft).

The navigable River Havel

Havel

The Havel is a river in north-eastern Germany, flowing through the German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a right tributary of the Elbe river and in length...

 flows through the lake, entering it at its northern end adjacent to central Potsdam, and leaving it at its southern end via a short channel to the Schwielowsee

Schwielowsee

Schwielowsee is a municipality in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Schwielowsee lake, through which the River Havel flows. The municipality was founded on December 31, 2002 in merger of the three villages Caputh, Geltow and Ferch. The...

 between Caputh and Geltow. The lake is crossed by two cable ferries

Cable ferry

A cable ferry is guided and in many cases propelled across a river or other larger body of water by cables connected to both shores. They are also called chain ferries, floating bridges, or punts....

, the Kiewitt Ferry

Kiewitt Ferry

The Kiewitt Ferry is a passenger cable ferry in the city of Potsdam in Brandenburg, Germany. It crosses the Havel river, at the northern end of the Templiner See, between Auf dem Kiewitt on the Potsdam side and the Hermannswerder peninsular....

 towards its northern end, and the Caputh Ferry

Caputh Ferry

The Caputh Ferry is a vehicular cable ferry in the municipality of Schwielowsee of the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It crosses the River Havel at its outlet from the Templiner See to the Schwielowsee, and crosses between the villages of Caputh and Geltow....

 at its southern exit. Navigation is administered as part of the Untere Havel–Wasserstraße.

At the northern end of the lake, the peninsular of Hermannswerder protrudes into the lake. At about its mid-point, the lake is crossed by the Berlin outer ring railway, using an embankment and bridge. This was built in the 1950s, to bypass West Berlin

West Berlin

West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...

 during the division of Germany.