Located in southern Bavaria 25 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of Munich, Lake Starnberg is a popular recreation area for the city and, since 1976, one of the wetlands of international importance protected by the Ramsar Convention.

The small town of Berg is famous as the site where King Ludwig II of Bavaria was found dead in the lake in 1886.

Bronze fish-hooks and a dugout dating to the 9th or 8th century BCE have been discovered at the lake, and there are still some professional fishers, most of them continuing a family tradition.

In the late 19th century, a railway connection between Munich and Starnberg made the lake an accessible destination for trips from the city.

Clockwise from the north, the following settlements about the lake: Off the western shore, south of Possenhofen, is the small Roseninsel (Rose Island), the site of a royal villa of Ludwig II.