Bregenz

In the very west, Vorarlberg borders Lake Constance. Bregenz is home to the Seebühne, where summer operas are staged directly on the water.

Lindau is the Bavarian town on Lake Constance, its old town situated on an approximately 0.69-square-kilometer island in the eastern Obersee. A road bridge and the railway embankment connect it to the mainland, on which trains travel to Lindau-Insel station.The landmark is the harbor entrance: On one side, the six-meter-high Bavarian Lion made of Kelheim marble, is enthroned; opposite stands the New Lighthouse, completed in 1856, Germany's southernmost. Also featured are the 12th-century Mangturm and the painted Old Town Hall dating from 1422.

Lake Constance, at roughly 395 meters above sea level, lies between Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, covering 536 square kilometers. Stretching 69 kilometers from Bregenz to Stein am Rhein, it plunges 251 meters at its deepest point between Fischbach and Uttwil. The Alpine Rhine flows in, the Seerhein connects the Obersee and Untersee, and the river then exits as the Hochrhein.On the German side, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria share its shores. Travel by ferry and ship here between Konstanz, the flower island Mainau, the castle town Meersburg, and the island city Lindau, where a UNESCO World Heritage site awaits on Reichenau Island.

Above Lake Constance, in Meersburg, rises Meersburg Castle, which is considered Germany's oldest inhabited castle. It has been documented since 1147, and its keep is named Dagobertsturm. The poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff lived at the castle from 1841 and died there in 1848; her death room is part of the tour.In the castle museum, you can visit over 30 furnished rooms, from the castle kitchen and knight's hall to the dungeon. Opposite stands the Neues Schloss, built in the 18th century as the residence of the Prince-Bishops of Konstanz. From Konstanz, you reach Meersburg in about 15 minutes by car ferry.

Konstanz, with over 85,000 inhabitants, is the largest city on Lake Constance and is located where the Rhine leaves the Upper Lake. To the south, the city borders directly on Swiss Kreuzlingen. It made world history with the Council of Constance from 1414 to 1418, during which Martin V. was elected Pope in 1417 in the market hall at the harbor, thus ending the Western Schism.At the harbor, Peter Lenk's nine-meter-high Imperia statue turns, a satirical commentary on the Council. From here, ships depart for Mainau, Meersburg, and by catamaran to Friedrichshafen, and in the old town, the Minster rises, whose tower platform is open from Easter until October.