On Lake Constance

Image: Achim Mende Internationale Bodensee Tourismus GmbH

1 Three Countries and a Lake

Satellite image of Lake Constance - Nasa World Wind / Free Satellite Image

Although Lake Constance is considered Germany’s largest lake, just over half of its surface area belongs to Germany. Just under a third lies in Switzerland and about 10 percent in Austria. The lake is 69 kilometres long and up to 14 kilometres wide, covering an area of 536 square kilometres. If you walk all the way around it along the shore, you have to cover 273 kilometres. The lake is an average of 90 metres deep, with a maximum depth of 254 metres. Lake Constance consists of the Upper Lake and the somewhat smaller Lower Lake. They are connected by a section of the River Rhine known as the Seerhein. Some parts of Lake Constance have other names, too. For example, a long, finger-shaped inlet branches off the north-western part of the Upper Lake and is called the Überlinger See. The Lower Lake has a very irregular shoreline, and its sections have names such as Gnadensee, Zeller See and Bernanger See. The Bodanrück peninsula lies between the Überlinger See and the Lower Lake.

Find out:

1. Which countries does Lake Constance border?

2. How large is Lake Constance?

3. What are the different parts of Lake Constance?

2 Lake Constance and the Rhine

Lake Constance formed in a large basin. It was shaped during the last Ice Age by a vast glacier, the Rhine Glacier. The glacier was so heavy that it pressed a deep hollow into the ground. When the glacier melted, water gathered in this hollow. Eventually, a lake formed, which was initially much larger than Lake Constance is today. But the water level began to fall several thousand years ago. The valley that now separates Upper Lake and Lower Lake was eventually no longer flooded. Only the Seerhein remained as a link between the two. The Rhine is Lake Constance's main tributary. It flows into the lake in the southeast, where it is called the Alpine Rhine. It then flows through the entire lake and emerges in the west. From there, it is called the High Rhine. The river flows through Lake Constance along almost the same route throughout. The Rhine's water hardly mixes with the lake water. The Rhine constantly carries large amounts of sand and stones down from the mountains and deposits them in Lake Constance. These displace the water. Lake Constance is therefore slowly silting up. The Rhine will also cut deeper and deeper into the landscape, which will cause the water level to fall as well. As a result, the surface area of Lake Constance will gradually shrink. In a few thousand years, the lake will be gone.

Find out:

4. How was Lake Constance formed?

5. Which river is the main tributary of Lake Constance?

6. Why is Lake Constance silting up?

3 Towns on Lake Constance

The largest city on Lake Constance is Konstanz. This is where the Rhine leaves the Upper Lake. By the way, residents always pronounce their city’s name “Konschdanz”. In the Middle Ages, Konstanz was an important trading centre on the route to Italy. Many buildings from that period can still be seen today, such as the Rheintorturm, which guarded the only bridge across the Rhine. From 1414 to 1418, a council of the Catholic Church was held in Konstanz, bringing many cardinals and bishops to the city. The largest Swiss city on Lake Constance is Kreuzlingen, next to Konstanz. Konstanz’s old town lies right on the border, and it is hard to notice where one city ends and the other begins. Many Swiss companies have offices in Konstanz. Friedrichshafen lies on the northern shore of the Upper Lake. The city is especially well known as the birthplace of the airships invented and built here by Count Zeppelin. These airships once even crossed the Atlantic. Radolfzell lies northwest of Konstanz on the Lower Lake. The city is a stronghold of Swabian-Alemannic carnival. Bregenz is the capital of the state of Vorarlberg and Austria’s largest city on Lake Constance. It was founded by the Romans, and many remains of Roman buildings can still be found here. The Bregenz Festival takes place every year in July and August. Operas are performed on a stage that extends out into the lake. The auditorium has room for 7,000 spectators.

Find out:

7. What is the largest city on Lake Constance?

8. Which other cities are on Lake Constance?

9. What kinds of transport are built in Friedrichshafen?

4 Islands in Lake Constance

There are ten large islands in Lake Constance. Reichenau is the largest. It is 4.5 kilometres long and 1.5 kilometres wide. Since 1838, the island has been connected to the mainland by a causeway. Tourists visit Reichenau mainly because of its monastery, founded as early as 724. From here, monks spread Christianity among the Alemanni, the people who lived here at the time. The monastery later became a centre of culture and learning. The monks copied books and decorated them with magnificent paintings depicting scenes from the Gospels or the lives of the emperors of the realm. The climate in this area is very mild, so the island produces a lot of vegetables. Some varieties can be harvested here up to three times a year. The second-largest island in Lake Constance is Lindau. It is part of the town of Lindau and is connected to the rest of the town by a bridge and a railway causeway. The old town on the island is surrounded by walls and a moat. There is a harbour for sailboats and yachts in the north of Lindau. The harbour on the mainland has a landing stage for ferries that operate on the lake. The harbour entrance is flanked by a 33-metre-high lighthouse and a statue of the Bavarian lion. The old medieval lighthouse is called the Mangturm. Mainau is the third-largest island in Lake Constance and lies in Lake Überlingen. It is 1,100 metres long and up to 600 metres wide. It is best known for its magnificent parkland, with rare tree species, flowerbeds and greenhouses. It is also known as the Flower Island. The water of Lake Constance acts as a heat reservoir here. Temperatures vary less than in other places, so many plants grow on Mainau that are otherwise found only in more southerly regions. In 1928, the island passed by inheritance to the Swedish royal family. It was later transferred to the Swedish king’s grandson, Count Lennart Bernadotte. He grew fond of the island and had it transformed into a flower island. Today, visitors especially admire the butterfly house, flowerbeds and rare trees in the parkland. These include giant sequoias, which originally come from California.

Find out:

10. How many islands are there in Lake Constance? Which are the largest?

11. What is Reichenau Island especially famous for?

12. What nickname has the island of Mainau been given?

Lake Constance’s water quality is considered good today, but that wasn’t always the case. There are several nature reserves around the lake. Many bird species, such as the Eurasian curlew and the northern lapwing, spend the winter here. Other migratory birds stop here on their way south. Thanks to the fairly mild climate, fruit growing plays an important role around Lake Constance. Apples, cherries and berries are the main crops. Wine is also grown here.

About 45 different fish species live in Lake Constance. A few commercial fishermen still work there, mainly catching whitefish, a popular food fish. But fishing is no longer as important as it was in the past.

Lake Constance is a popular tourist destination. Visitors explore its towns and islands or take to the lake in motorboats and sailboats. Several ferries operate on the lake, including car ferries. It is often easier to cross the lake by ferry than to take the long route along the shore. People have lived in the Lake Constance region for a very long time. It is thought that people lived in pile dwellings here from the fifth to the first millennium BC. Some of these pile dwellings have been reconstructed. Poles 3 to 5 metres long were driven into the lakebed. Platforms were then built between the poles to support the houses. These, too, were made of wood and clad on the outside with a layer of clay. The roofs are thatched with grass or reeds.

Find out:

13. What agricultural products are grown around Lake Constance?

14. What is the most common fish in Lake Constance?

15. What kinds of structures, commonly built more than 2,000 years ago, have been reconstructed in Lake Constance?