Lake Topolitz questions

redbull

Jr. Member
Sep 5, 2013
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iowa formerly from the south
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Lake Toplitz questions

Looking for information on Lake toplitz. Specifically what type of timber is floating on/near the bottom. I've Googled my ass off but no articles/stories I can find tell what type of timber it is.
Reason I'm wondering is I had a discussion with a friend who thinks if it is a oak or cedar variety in and of itself might be worth hauling up more so then the counterfeit notes etc. Depending on the age of the lumber which considering it's area the timber is probably quite old and due to the low oxygen/temps should be well preserved.
If it is oak or another costly wood, wouldn't it make more sense to start by pulling up the old timber for resale value?
 

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You're right. Dozens of mention of submerged logs. Also a survey on fish that shows very little oxygen below 20m depth - so they might be solid.

Lake Toplitz is near another lake: Grundlsee. Which is surrounded by "pine forests". It is up in the Alps.

And here is the Austrian Pine:
Austrian Pine | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Softwoods)
 

I wonder if it would be a viable idea or not. I'm sure environmentalists would have a hayday over it (alpine lakes have both fresh and salt water in them and are layered usually fresh on top and salt on bottom is areas) but considering that below 20m there isn't much viable marine life one would suspect pulling logs from 30m and deeper shouldn't harm the water salinity in the marine areas to much.
 

It is also doubtful the nazis cut all the timber and dumped it in to. I'd assume alot of it would be old growth, which here in america fetches quite a high $ value per BFT. I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't quite a few 200+ year old trees in the lake.
 

Here is some pictures of 1959 expedition and recovery of counterfeit currency.

article-1222652-02119E19000004B0-943_468x286.jpg

o-LAKE-TOPLITZ-570.jpg

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Lake Toplitz is the post child for nazi treasure legends. However there may be much more productive location where nazi treasure can be found for those willing to research.

Crow
 

Crow you are so right !
One can ask Norman Scott . He and his Crew of 20 where there in 2009 with a little submarine .
We tried to get in contakt with him or his Company Global Exploration in Florida . But with no success.
On the other hand there is not enough timber in the Lake to make a good profit . For this, this Lake Toplitz is much to small !
grantler
 

Might try to contact him. I'd assume the logs would be all over the lake and not just where the searches have been. It'd be interesting to know why no one ever pulled the damn things up
 

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Id assume it'd have to be the type of timber and because biologists would probably freak as it'd stir up salinity for a bit. Although if done properly the salinity effect would be minimal. If it is mainly white/austrian pine unless they are extremely old (which I'm sure they are as it's not exactly easy to fell trees in high altitudes and in harsh conditions) they'd be worth something. Not as much as the old cypress growth I've seen pulled out of the Louisiana waterways but I'm sure it'd still be viable.
 

I think the "logs" are from trees that fell into the lake naturally - including century's of avalanches - not lost logging trunks. The mile long lake is at the bottom of a fairly steep and narrow valley. These would be dead trees with branches - a lot of work to untangle and clear . . . for what may be a dead and poor quality trunk to begin with.
 

Have been too Toplitzee. A main source of submerged timber would indeed be sunken logs generated by avalanches down the adjacent steep slopes. The lake is plenty big enough to have lots of logs if the anaerobic environment indeed prevented decay (which it should). Interestingly, there is an ancient sluiceway (hand?)cut through the rock upstream between Lake Toplitz and much smaller Lake Kammersee further up the valley. It seems very likely this was cut specifically to float timber down between the lakes instead of having to haul it overland. So there could be some very big, virgin timber at the bottom of Toplitzee. That being said, Toplitz is a meromictic lake that does not normally "turn over" so the anoxic deeper waters never mix with oxygenated surface waters. Any salvage operation would force artificial mixing of waters on at least a localized level, and the resultant drop in dissolved oxygen in the upper waters that are well-populated with fish could be adversely affected, perhaps even causing fish kills....
 

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