The terrestrial margins of the Middle Pleistocene ice sheets in northern central Europe were characterised by the formation of extensive ice-dammed lakes, which were controlled by the blockage of spillways by the ice margin. The largest ice-dammed lake had a volume of ∼224 km³ and formed in a late stage of the first Saalian ice advance (MIS 6) in central Germany. The failure of the ice dam in the bedrock-outlet channel triggered a major glacial lake-outburst flood. Flood-related erosional and depositional features include large-scale scours, trench-like channels, streamlined hills, giant bars and run-up deposits, indicating a wide spreading of the outburst flood in an early stage and the incision of trench-like valleys in a later stage. The incision of large valleys in the proximal flood pathway strongly impacted the regional drainage system by providing an efficient drainage network. The trench-like channels initiated by the lake-outburst flood became a crucial part of the ice-marginal drainage and ...