Climate-induced environmental changes are triggering the dynamic evolution of high-mountain lakes worldwide, a phenomenon that has to be monitored in terms of lake outburst hazards. We analyzed the spatial distribution and recent temporal development of high-mountain lakes in a study area of 6139 km2, covering the central European Alps over most of the province of Tyrol and part of the province of Salzburg in western Austria. We identified 1024 natural lakes. While eight lakes are ice-dammed, one-third of all lakes are located in the immediate vicinity of recent glacier tongues, half of them impounded by moraines, half by bedrock. Two-thirds of all lakes are apparently related to LIA or earlier glaciations. One landslide-dammed lake was identified in the study area.