Misplaced Pages

#681318

60-649: Despite it being rather low when compared to other Alpine peaks – the highest mountain is the Säntis at 2502 metres – the Alpstein, due to their northern "outpost" position only a short distance from Lake Constance (nearly 30 km) are relatively tall when compared to the surrounding area. The range also includes the Altenalp Türm as the northernmost summit above 2,000 metres in Switzerland. Geologically,

120-575: A Frankish imperial palace ( Königspfalz ), Alamannian ducal seat and mint , which is why the name may have been transferred to the lake ("lake, by which Bodman is situated" = Bodmansee ). From 833/834 AD, in Latin sources, the name appears in its Latinised form lacus potamicus . Therefore, the name actually derived from the Bodman Pfalz (Latinized as Potamum ) was wrongly assumed by monastic scholars like Walahfrid Strabo to be derived from

180-514: A foothold and was then exported into other languages such as Hebrew: ימת קונסטנץ yamat Konstanz and Swahili: Ziwa la Konstanz . In many languages both forms exist in parallel e.g. Romansh : Lai da Constanza and Lai Bodan , Esperanto: Konstanca Lago and Bodenlago . The poetic name, " Swabian Sea", was adopted by authors of the early modern era and the Enlightenment from ancient authors, possibly Tacitus . However, this assumption

240-535: A heavily used cycleway and footpath on its eastern side. It has two bridges under which boats may pass. The railway running over the causeway from Aeschach to the island of Lindau was the last section of the Ludwig South-North Railway , to be taken into operation. It was opened on 1 March 1854 as part of the Buchloe–Lindau railway . The old town of Lindau, which is a listed monument, occupies

300-759: A treaty was drawn up between the Hohenstaufen emperor and the Lombard League . Lake Constance also played an important role as a trading post for goods being traded between German and Italian states. During the Thirty Years' War , there were various conflicts over the control of the region during the Lake War (1632–1648). After the War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802), which also affected

360-624: Is 251.14 metres (824.0 ft) deep. The three small bays on the Vorarlberg shore have their own names: the Bay of Bregenz, off Hard and Fußach is the Bay of Fussach and, west of that is the Wetterwinkel. Farther west, now in Switzerland, is the Bay of Rorschach. To the north, on the Bavarian side, is the Bay of Reutin. The railway embankment from the mainland to the island of Lindau and

420-485: Is 395 m (1,296 ft) above sea level . Its greatest depth is 252 metres (827 ft), exactly in the middle of the Upper Lake. Its volume is about 48 km (12 cu mi). The lake has two parts. The main east section, called Obersee or "Upper Lake", covers about 473 square kilometres (183 sq mi), including its northwestern arm, the Überlinger See (61 km (24 sq mi)), and

480-779: Is a Zungenbecken or Tongue lake. After the end of the last glacial period , about 10,000 years ago, the Obersee and Untersee still formed a single lake. The downward erosion of the High Rhine caused the lake level to gradually sink and a sill, the Konstanzer Schwelle , to emerge. The Rhine, the Bregenzer Ach , and the Dornbirner Ach carry sediments from the Alps to the lake, thus gradually decreasing

540-563: Is also known for its intensive cultivation of fruit and vegetables . The island of Lindau is located in the east of the Obersee, and is the second largest island. On it is the old town and main railway station of Lindau. The third largest island is Mainau in the southeast of Lake Überlingen. The owners, the family of Bernadotte , have set up the island as a tourist attraction and created botanical gardens and wildlife enclosures. Relatively large, but uninhabited and inaccessible because of their status as nature reserves, are two islands off

600-751: Is an important source of drinking water for southwestern Germany. The culminating point of the lake's drainage basin is the Swiss peak Piz Russein of the Tödi massif of the Glarus Alps at 3,613 metres (11,854 ft) above sea level. It starts with the creek Aua da Russein (lit.: "Water of the Russein"). Lake Constance was formed by the Rhine Glacier during the Quaternary glaciation ice age and

660-524: Is around 11,500 km (4,400 sq mi), and reaching as far south as Lago di Lei in Italy. The area of the Obersee , or Upper Lake, is 473 km (183 sq mi). It extends from Bregenz to Bodman-Ludwigshafen for over 63.3 kilometres (39.3 mi) and is 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) wide between Friedrichshafen and Romanshorn . At its deepest point between Fischbach and Uttwil , it

SECTION 10

#1732772955682

720-517: Is just called Insel ("Island"). The present island of Lindau originally consisted of three separate islands, which were formed by the moraine of the Rhine Glacier : On an 1822 map (long before the construction of the railway, which opened in 1854) the three individual islands can be made out: Even in 1831 it was said that: the little town of Lindau lies on three islands in Lake Constance, linked by bridges… The remaining history of

780-627: Is located west of the historical town wall and the old moat. This rear part of the island was enlarged around 1970 by a good four hectares, by the reclamation of an area of the lake between the Pulverschanze and the Sternschanze . It now covers an area of eleven hectares, about one sixth of the island and is dominated by the Lake Constance Clinic of ENT physician and cosmetic surgeon, Werner Mang. The westernmost point of

840-652: Is situated where Germany , Switzerland , and Austria meet. Its shorelines lie in the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria ; the Swiss cantons of St. Gallen , Thurgau , and Schaffhausen ; and the Austrian state of Vorarlberg . The actual locations of the country borders within the lake are disputed. The Alpine Rhine forms, in its original course ( Alter Rhein ), the Austro-Swiss border and flows into

900-671: Is the Zeller See (or Zellersee in Swiss Standard German), or Lake Zell . North of the peninsula and swamp land Mettnau lies the lake part Markelfinger Winkel. The drumlins of the southern Bodanrück continue along the bed of these northern parts of the lake. South of the Reichenau, from Gottlieben to Eschenz , stretches the Rheinsee (lit.: "Rhine Lake") with strong Rhine currents in places. Previously this lake part

960-591: The Council of Constance in the 15th century, the alternative name Lacus Constantinus was used in the (Roman Catholic) Romance language area. This name, which had been attested as early as 1187 in the form Lacus Constantiensis , came from the town of Konstanz at the outflow of the Rhine from the Obersee, whose original name, Constantia, was in turn derived from the Roman emperor, Constantius Chlorus (around 300 AD). Hence

1020-812: The Gnadensee (lit.: "Lake Mercy") north of the island and north of the peninsula of Mettnau (the Markelfinger Winkel ), and the Zeller See , south of Radolfzell and to the northwest of the Reichenau island, and the mainly Swiss Rheinsee (lit.: "Lake Rhine") – not to be mistaken for the Seerhein (lit.: "Rhine of the Lake(s)") at its start – to the south of the island and with its southwestern arm leading to its effluent in Stein am Rhein . The water of

1080-585: The Hallstatt period is attested by grave mounds , which today are usually found in forests where they have been protected from the destruction by agriculture. Since the late Hallstatt period, the peoples living on Lake Constance are referred to as the Celts . During the La Tène period from 450 BC, the population density decreases, as can be deduced partly due from the fact that no more grave mounds were built. For

1140-548: The Kleiner See . The Kleiner See is bounded in the east by the 150-metre-long Landtor Bridge ( Landtorbrücke ), over which the Chelles Allee runs, and in the west by the 410-metre-long railway causeway and covers an area of around 20 hectares. There was a bridge at this spot as early as the 13th century; by contrast the railway embankment was built in the 19th century. The railway causeway carries four tracks and has

1200-631: The Mesolithic period (Middle Stone Age, 8,000–5,500 BC) frequented the area without settling, however. Only hunting camps have been confirmed. The earliest Neolithic farmers, who belonged to the Linear Pottery culture , also left no traces behind, because the Alpine foreland lay away from the routes along which they had spread during the 6th millennium BC. This changed only in the middle and late Neolithic when shore settlements were established,

1260-773: The Radolfzeller Aach . The source of the Radolfzeller Aach is the Aachtopf , a karst spring whose waters mostly derive from the Danube Sinkhole . Therefore, the Danube is indirectly also a tributary of the Rhine. Because the Alpine Rhine brings with it drift from the mountains and deposits this material as sediment , the Bay of Bregenz will silt up in a few centuries time. The silting up of

SECTION 20

#1732772955682

1320-629: The Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps : Upper Lake Constance ( Obersee ), Lower Lake Constance ( Untersee ), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein ( lit.   ' Rhine of the lake(s) ' ). These waterbodies lie within the Lake Constance Basin ( Bodenseebecken ) in the Alpine Foreland through which the Rhine flows. The nearby Mindelsee is not considered part of Lake Constance. The lake

1380-670: The Rohrspitz in the Austrian section of the lake, the Langenargen and Marienschlucht . Lindau (island) On the island of Lindau in the eastern Lake Constance is the Altstadt of the Bavarian county town of Lindau , which occupies the eastern part of the island. The island of Lindau, which forms 2% of the area and 12% of the population of the entire town, is one of the town's ten administrative districts. The district

1440-601: The Wollmatinger Ried : the Triboldingerbohl which has an area of 13 ha (32 acres) and Mittler or Langbohl which is just three hectares (7.4 acres) in area. Smaller islands in the Obersee are: In the Untersee are: In Lake Constance there are several peninsulas which vary greatly in size: The shores of Lake Constance consist mainly of gravel. In some places there are also sandy beaches, such as

1500-537: The regulated Alpine Rhine flows into the lake in the southeast near Bregenz , Austria, then through the Upper Lake Constance hardly targeting the Überlinger See , into the Seerhein in the town of Konstanz , then through the Rheinsee virtually without feeding both German parts of the Lower Lake, and finally feeds the start of the High Rhine in Swiss town Stein am Rhein . The lake itself

1560-477: The Alpstein massif is different from the predominantly granitic central Alps . Alpstein are predominantly limestone massif and thus represents a kind of western continuation of the eastern ranges, running between Germany and Austria . Because of erosions, numerous cracks, caves and sinkholes which prevail in the limestone, two of the three lakes have no surface drainage: the water of the Fälensees flows by

1620-402: The Austrian railways had already introduced CET the previous year and Switzerland followed in 1894. Because traffic timetables had not been yet updated, CET became the sole valid time around and on Lake Constance in 1895. The earliest recorded reference to the lakes is by Roman geographer Pomponius Mela around 43 AD, calling the upper lake Lacus Venetus and the lower lake Lacus Acronius ,

1680-516: The Bavarian Munich time was observed, and Bregenz used Prague time, while the Swiss shore used Berne time. One would have needed to travel only 46 kilometres (29 mi) to visit five time zones. Given the amount of trade and traffic over Lake Constance, this led to serious confusion. Public clocks in harbors used three different clock faces, depending on the destinations offered by the boat companies. In 1892, all German territories used CET ,

1740-653: The French: Lac de Constance , Italian: Lago di Costanza , Portuguese: Lago de Constança , Spanish: Lago de Constanza , Romanian: Lacul Constanța , Greek: Λίμνη της Κωνσταντίας – Limni tis Konstantias . The Arabic, بحيرة كونستانس buħaira Konstans and the Turkish, Konstanz gölü , probably go back to the French form of the name. Even in Romance-influenced English the name "Lake Constance" gained

1800-644: The Greek word potamos for "river" and meant "river lake". They may also have been influenced by the fact that the Rhine flowed through the lake. Wolfram von Eschenbach describes it in Middle High German as the Bodemensee or Bodemsee which has finally evolved into the present German name, Bodensee . The name may be linked to that of the Bodanrück , the hill range between Lake Überlingen and

1860-586: The Lower Lake is Radolfzell . The largest islands are Reichenau in the Lower Lake, and Lindau and Mainau in the Upper Lake. Bodanrück , a large peninsula, separates the Upper and Lower Lake. While in English and in the Romance languages , the lake is named after the city of Constance , the German name derives from the village of Bodman (municipality of Bodman-Ludwigshafen ), in the northwesternmost corner of

Alpstein - Misplaced Pages Continue

1920-524: The Lower Lake, and the history of the House of Bodman . The German name of the lake, Bodensee , has been adopted by many other languages, for example: Dutch: Bodenmeer , Danish: Bodensøen , Norwegian: Bodensjøen , Swedish: Bodensjön , Finnish: Bodenjärvi , Russian: Боденское озеро , Polish: Jezioro Bodeńskie , Czech: Bodamské jezero , Slovak: Bodamské jazero , Hungarian: Bodeni-tó , Serbo-Croatian: Bodensko jezero , Albanian: Liqeni i Bodenit . After

1980-505: The Obersee are (counterclockwise) the Dornbirner Ach , Bregenzer Ach , Leiblach , Argen , Schussen , Rotach , Brunnisach , Seefelder Aach , Stockacher Aach , Salmsacher Aach , the Aach near Arbon , Steinach , Goldach and the Old Rhine . The outflow of the Obersee is the Seerhein , which in turn is the main tributary of the Untersee. The most important tributary of the Untersee is

2040-611: The Rhine boundary in the 3rd century BC, the Alemanni gradually settled on the north shore of Lake Constance and, later, on the south bank as well. After the introduction of Christianity , the cultural significance of the region grew as a result of the founding of Reichenau Abbey and the Bishopric of Constance . Under the rule of the Hohenstaufens , Imperial Diets ( Reichstage ) were held by Lake Constance. In Constance, too,

2100-440: The Rhine passing through both. Around 75 AD, The naturalist Pliny the Elder called them both Lacus Raetiae Brigantinus after the main Roman town on the lake, Brigantium (later Bregenz). This name is associated with the Celtic Brigantii who lived here, although it is not clear whether the place was named after the tribe or the inhabitants of the region were named after their main settlement. Ammianus Marcellinus later used

2160-421: The Upper Lake runs approximately along the line between the southeast tip of Bodanrück (the Hörnle , which belongs to the town of Konstanz) and Meersburg. The Constance Hopper lies between the German and Swiss shores east of Konstanz . The Obersee and Untersee are connected by the Seerhein . The Untersee , or Lower Lake, which is separated from the Obersee and from its north-west arm, the Überlinger See, by

2220-432: The depth and reducing the extension of the lake in the southeast. In antiquity, the two lakes had different names; later, for reasons which are unknown, they came to have the same name. In the 19th century, there were five different local time zones around Lake Constance. Constance, belonging to the Grand Duchy of Baden , adhered to Karlsruhe time, Friedrichshafen used the time of the Duchy of Württemberg , in Lindau,

2280-475: The entire Lake Constance is estimated to take another ten to twenty thousand years. The outflow of the Untersee is the High Rhine with the Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen . Both the average precipitation of 0.45 km /a and evaporation which averages 0.29 km /a cause a net change in the level of Lake Constance that is less when compared to the influence of the inflows and outflows. Further quantities of lake water are extracted by municipal waterworks around

2340-417: The first time, written reports on Lake Constance have survived. Thus, we learn that the Helvetians settled by the lake in the south, the Rhaetians in the area of the Alpine Rhine Valley and the Vindelici in the north-east. The most important places on the lake were Bregenz (Celtic Brigantion ) and today's Constance . In the course of the Roman Alpine campaign of 16/15 BC, the Lake Constance region

2400-420: The first time. The most important Roman site was Bregenz, which soon became subject to Roman municipal law and later became the seat of the Prefect of the Lake Constance fleet. The Romans were also in Lindau , but settled only on the hills around Lindau as the lakeshore was swampy. Other Roman towns were Constantia (Constance) and Arbor Felix ( Arbon ). After the borders of the Roman Empire were drawn back to

2460-419: The form Lacus Brigantiae . The current German name of Bodensee derives from the place name Bodman , which probably originally derived from the Old High German bodamon which meant "on the soils", indicating a place on level terrain by the lake. This place, situated at the west end of Lake Überlingen ( Überlinger See ), had a more supraregional character for a certain period in the early Middle Ages as

Alpstein - Misplaced Pages Continue

2520-427: The island of Lindau is inextricably bound up with the history of the town of Lindau itself. The island of Lindau currently has about 3,000 inhabitants on an area of 68 hectares (0.68 km²). The last official figures from the population census of 25 May 1987 gave the population as 2755, making Lindau the second-largest island in Lake Constance after Reichenau in terms of area and population. For centuries, Lindau

2580-419: The lake and the water company of Bodensee-Wasserversorgung . In Lake Constance there are ten islands that are larger than 2,000 m (22,000 sq ft). By far the largest is the island of Reichenau in the Untersee, which belongs to the municipality of Reichenau . The former abbey of Reichenau is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its three early and highly medieval churches. The island

2640-476: The lake from the south. The High Rhine flows westbound out of the lake and forms (with the exception of the Canton of Schaffhausen , Rafzerfeld and Basel-Stadt ) the German-Swiss border as far as to the city of Basel . The Leiblach forms the Austria–Germany border east of the lake. The most populous towns on the Upper Lake are Constance ( German : Konstanz ), Friedrichshafen , Bregenz , Lindau , Überlingen and Kreuzlingen . The largest town on

2700-474: The lake. Lake Constance is located along the Rhine between the Alpine Rhine , its main tributary , and the High Rhine , its outflow. It is the third largest freshwater lake by surface area in Central and Western Europe (and the second largest in volume), after Lake Geneva and (in surface area) Lake Balaton . It is 63 km (39 mi) long, and, nearly 14 km (8.7 mi) at its widest point. It covers about 536 km (207 sq mi), and

2760-475: The large eastern part of the island of Lindau, also known as the "main island" ( Hauptinsel ). In the centre is the main street of Maximilianstraße with the two gable fronts of the town hall on the Reichsplatz . Parallel to Maximilianstraße there is the Ludwigstraße in the south and the Grub in the north. The curvature of both roads enables the line of the medieval fortifications of the island to be seen. The smaller formerly separate island of Hintere Insel

2820-410: The large peninsula of Bodanrück , has an area of 63 km (24 sq mi). It is strongly characterised and divided into different areas by end moraines , various glacial snouts and medial moraines . These various areas of the lake have their own names. North of Reichenau Island is the Gnadensee . West of the island of Reichenau, between the peninsula of Höri and the peninsula of Mettnau

2880-499: The larger rivers, especially that of the Alpine Rhine. The silting up process is accelerated by ever-increasing erosion by the Rhine and the associated reduction in the level of the lake. The main tributary of Lake Constance is the Alpine Rhine . The Alpine Rhine and the Seerhein do not mix greatly with the waters of the lake and flow through the lakes along courses that change relatively little. There are also numerous smaller tributaries (236 in all). The most important tributaries of

2940-450: The middle of the former Duchy of Swabia , which also included parts of today's Switzerland. Today the name Swabian Sea ( Schwäbisches Meer ) is only used jocularly as a hyperbolic term for Lake Constance. No Paleolithic finds have been made in the immediate vicinity of the lake, because the region of Lake Constance was long covered by the Rhine Glacier . The discovery of stone tools ( microliths ) indicate that hunters and gatherers of

3000-400: The motorway bridge over the lake border the so-called Little Lake ( Kleiner See ), which is located between the Lindau village of Aeschach and the island. The northwestern, finger-shaped arm of the Obersee is called Überlinger See (or Überlingersee in Swiss Standard German ), or Lake Überlingen . It is sometimes regarded as a separate lake, the boundary between Lake Überlingen and the rest of

3060-547: The mountain ridge southwest into the Rhine . Morphologically, there are three main tectonic folds running from southwest to northeast. Only the Lisengrat, the connection between the two peaks Säntis Altman runs perpendicular to the main ridge. Between these mountain ranges are embedded in 47°15′N 9°20′E  /  47.250°N 9.333°E  / 47.250; 9.333 Lake Constance Lake Constance ( German : Bodensee , pronounced [ˈboːdn̩zeː] ) refers to three bodies of water on

SECTION 50

#1732772955682

3120-523: The region and during which Austrian and French flotillas operated on Lake Constance, there was a reorganisation of state relationships. Lake Constance is located in the foothills of the Alps . The shore length of both main lakes is 273 kilometres (170 mi) long. Of this, 173 kilometres (107 mi) are located in Germany ( Baden-Württemberg 155 kilometres or 96 miles, Bavaria 18 kilometres or 11 miles), 28 kilometres (17 mi) run through Austria and 72 kilometres (45 mi) through Switzerland. If

3180-435: The smaller west section, called Untersee or "Lower Lake", with an area of about 63 square kilometres (24 sq mi). The connection between these two lakes is the Seerhein (lit.: "Rhine of the Lake(s)"). Geographically, usually it is not considered to be part of the lake, but a very short river. The Lower Lake Constance is loosely divided into three sections around the Island of Reichenau . The two German parts,

3240-407: The so-called pile dwelling and wetland settlements , which have now been uncovered mainly on Lake Überlingen, the Constance Hopper and on the Obersee. At Unteruhldingen , a pile dwelling village has been reconstructed, and now forms an open air museum. In 2015, a 20 km line of about 170 man-made under-water stone mounds  [ de ] dated in the neolithic period or early Bronze Age

3300-588: The upper and lower lakes are combined, Lake Constance has a total area of 536 km (207 sq mi), the third largest lake in Central Europe by area after Lake Balaton (594 km or 229 sq mi) and Lake Geneva (580 km or 220 sq mi). It is also the second largest by water volume (48.5 km or 11.6  cu mi or 39,300,000  acre⋅ft ) after Lake Geneva (89 km or 21 cu mi or 72,000,000 acre⋅ft) and extends for over 69.2 kilometres (43.0 mi) between Bregenz and Stein am Rhein . Its catchment area

3360-407: Was based on an error (similar to that of the Teutoburg Forest and the Taunus ): the Romans sometimes used the name Mare Suebicum for the Baltic Sea , not Lake Constance. In times when the Romans had located the so-called " Suebi ", then an Elbe Germanic tribe near a sea, this was understandable. The authors of the Early Modern Period overlooked this and adopted the name for the largest lake in

3420-414: Was discovered on the south-west shore of the lake between Bottighofen and Romanshorn. Grave finds from Singen am Hohentwiel date to the beginning of the Early Bronze Age and shore settlements were repeatedly built during the Neolithic Period and the Bronze Age (up to 800 BC). During the following Iron Age the settlement history is interrupted. The settlement of the shore of Lake Constance during

3480-407: Was integrated into the Roman Empire . During the campaign, there was also supposed to have been a battle on Lake Constance . The geographer, Pomponius Mela , makes the first mention in 43 AD of Lake Constance as two lakes – the Lacus Venetus (Upper Lake) and the Lacus Acronius (Untersee) – with the Rhine flowing through both. Pliny the Elder referred to Lake Constance as Lacus Brigantinus for

3540-407: Was named Lake Bernang after the village of Berlingen . On most of the maps the name of the Rheinsee is not shown, because this place is best suited for the name of the Untersee. The present-day shape of Lake Constance has resulted from the combination of several factors: Like any glacial lake, Lake Constance will also silt up by sedimentation . This process can best be observed at the mouths of

3600-410: Was the most populous island and it was only after the decline in population in the old town in the late 1980s that it passed the baton to Reichenau at the other end of the lake, which was six times the size and more rural in character. In the 1970 census, the island's population was still 4,413, and in 1904 as much as 5,853. The island is separated from the Lindau quarter of Aeschach on the mainland by

#681318