The literal translation appears to be "King's Lake"; however while German: K�nig does indeed mean "king", there had been no Bavarian kings since the days of Louis the German until Elector Maximilian I Joseph assumed the royal title in 1806. Therefore the name more probably stems from the first name Kuno of local nobles, who appear in several historical sources referring to the donation of the Berchtesgaden Provostry in the 12th century; the lake was formerly called Kunigsee.
In 1944 a subcamp of the Dachau concentration camp was located nearby where Heinrich Himmler had a residence built at Sch�nau for his mistress Hedwig Potthast
