Modern perceptions of landscapes presuppose a specific societal relationship with nature that has only developed over the last two to three centuries. The author examines this process from a cultural and discourse-historical perspective using the example of a particular landscape formation, that of the westernmost steppe lake in Europe. Lake Neusiedl proves to be a border landscape on multiple levels: throughout history, it has been subjected to political border shifts and extreme fluctuations in water levels, ranging from flooding to drought. There is also an exceptionally strong ambivalence evident in the aesthetic evaluations and cultural practices that have been applied to this landscape up until the recent past.