Discovering Konstanz
– just over the border in Germany – don’t forget to take euros!
Twenty-one members of the Discovering Zürich and Switzerland
group took the train from Zürich to Konstanz on the Bodensee on one of the
hottest days of the year in August 2012. It turned out to be one of our best excursions yet.
Rowena and I made a preparatory visit in July – flowers were in full
bloom. We tried out the restaurants beside the harbour and chose the
Hafenmeisterei.
Our guide Henry was full of amusing historical anecdotes – the Great
Schism was resolved here in 1416. We saw on the map that the town straddles the
border with Switzerland.
The harbour on the Bodensee allows access to towns in Germany and
Austria as well as to Insel Mainau. The sculpture by Peter Lenk shows Imperia holding up naked figures of the
Emperor and the Pope.
The architecture in the town flourished in the medieval, baroque and
rococo periods as well as more recent examples. Many of the buildings are
decorated with colourful murals.
The Münster was built securely on glacial moraine, starting in the 11th
century. Inside the church one can see the Romanesque vaulting; other details
were added later in the neo-Gothic style.
Today there are numerous bakeries and pharmacies to provide for the
German residents who work over the border in Switzerland. King Friedrich I,
also known as Barbarossa, features in many of the murals.
We looked inside the Rathaus where concerts and plays are often
performed. The Emperor’s fountain stands in the main square, the Marktstätte,
with its pavement cafes.
After lunch beside the harbour, we took the Giess ferry around the local towns on the Bodensee. We enjoyed the breeze and noticed the pedaloes, sailing boats and large ferry boats which depart from Konstanz.
The town of Konstanz, one and a half hours from Zurich by train, is
definitely worth a visit – find out more at these links:
www.konstanz-tourismus.de
for general tourist information and to contact a tour guide,
http://www.konstanz.de/en/01800/01803/index.html
to find more about the town’s history,
www.hafenmeisterei-konstanz.de
for lunch at a spacious, reasonably-priced harbourside cafe,
www.moewe-konstanz.de for
the short Giess boat trips
Julia Newton, 27 August 2012. Updated in April 2016.
