Lake Longemer is one of the largest in the Vosges mountains, and its name means the long sea. A human presence is already attested around the lake in 3000 BC. A Neolithic hunter lost a polished stone ax on its shores that was unearthed in 1959. A little after 800, Charlemagne passed through the region. He is said to have hunted and caught a pike so majestic that he put it back in the water with a bell around its neck. Fishermen tell that one can still hear it ringing on summer evenings.