LINDAU
ON LAKE CONSTANCE
Lovely Island Harbor Town of Bavaria
My
first encounter with Lindau was on a day sightseeing train trip from
Munich
to Zurich.
I had a day left on a Eurail Flexipass to explore something
and the train from the Bavarian capital to the Swiss city was only about
4 hours. About halfway, the train stopped in Lindau, a city on on the
edge of Lake Constance (the Bodensee) where the borders of Switzerland,
Austria and Germany meet, where the old town lies on an island across
a short bridge from the mainland. Stepping off the train for a look around
during the brief stop, the thought came to me that if I were to move
to Germany, this would be where I would want to live, something about
the lake and the trees. It was later that I learned, duh, of 
Lindau’s
status as one of the lake’s most popular resort towns, known for
one of the prettiest harbors on the Bodensee and its medieval old city
situated
on the island. On a second visit, at night while on a car journey returning
from Alsace and the Black Forest, I stopped for dinner in a wonderful
little traditional restaurant. The streets of the old town were nearly
deserted and the golden lights on reflected on the harbor waters reinforced
my impression. On a third visit in inclement weather, the impression
turned a little toward the reality that waterside towns can be rather
gloomy in the rain.
Lindau
was first mentioned in historical records in 882 by the Irish wandering
monk Gallus who
founded the monastery in St Gallen in Switzerland
just to the south of Lake Constance (see St
Gallen Abbey). St
Gallus may have sailed across the lake in a route followed by today’s
ferry boats, landing on the Swiss shore in Arbon (see Arbon
Castle and Cars). The old town was a free Imperial City
during the middle-ages, then belonged to Austria for awhile, controlled
by the
French under Napoleon and after the Second World War, then returned to
Bavaria in the 1950s. The
railway bridge to the island was built in 1853, turning the island into
a holiday destination. Lindaus’s most recognized
symbol is the Bavarian Lion statue 
which looks out across the lake as
the cruise and ferry boats depart the harbor and its lighthouse, the
only one in Bavaria . The oldest of Lindau’s buildings is the Peterskirch
Church, from 1100, now a war memorial, over shadowed by St Stephen’s
Church which dates from 1180. The 16th Century stone defensive tower,
the Pulverturm (Gunpowder Tower) from 1580, on the western tip of the
island was part of the old city walls and The Diebsturm from 1370, which
looks like one would imagine Rapunzel’s tower was actually a prison
for a time and the beautiful illustrated Gothic Old Town Hall are highlights.
Parking lots are outside the old city walls for venturing into the pedestrian
zone of the preserved old town and near the rail station.
The
harbor square is lined with hotels and outdoor
restaurants
for when the weather is nice,
while the surrounding area offers a variety of activities. The City
Museum (Stadtmuseum Lindau) has an intriguing Mechanical Musical Instrument
collection,
ferries
to
Bregenz
in Austria, or Konstanz on the opposite shore of the
lake, and ample boating and sailing. The Bodensee Radweg is a cycle path
following the circumference of the lake, bike rental is available in
town or
at other
locations along
the route. The Säntis Cable Tram across the lake in Switzerland
provides view from the heights of the Pfander mountains and the Pfander
Cable from Bregenz carries up to the Alpine Game Park. Dirigible rides
can be taken from Friedrichshafen Airport or explore the history
of lighter
than air ships at Friedrichshafen harbor (see Zeppelin
Museum), easily
reached by rail, and with a car, the castles of King Ludwig II (see Ludwig’s
Fanstasy Neuschwanstein) and the Hohenzollerns (see Castle
Hohenzollern and Castle
Sigmaringen). Munich and Stuttgart are both two hours by
auto and Lindau is served by rail from Munich and Karlsrue. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Lindau
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Bodensee Cycle
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See Also:
LUDWIGSBURG BAROQUE MASTERPIECE - STUTTGART
BMW
WORLD - MUSEUM & FACTORY IN MUNICH
WALKING
TOUR AROUND MUNICH'S MARIENPLATZ
FLIGHT MUSEUM ALTENRHEIN-ST GALLEN
