Obersee (Lake Constance)
Encyclopedia
Lake Constance
Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...
.
It has an area of 473 km² in size and extends over 63 km between Bregenz
Bregenz
-Culture:The annual summer music festival Bregenzer Festspiele is a world-famous festival which takes place on and around a stage on Lake Constance, where a different opera is performed every second year.-Sport:* A1 Bregenz HB is a handball team....
and Bodman-Ludwigshafen
Bodman-Ludwigshafen
Bodman-Ludwigshafen is a village in the district of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The mayor is Matthias Weckbach.The village is located near the Lake Constance ....
. Its maximum width is 14 km. The Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
called it Lacus Venetus, Lacus Brigantinus and Lacus Constantinus. In the Middle Ages the dominant term was Lacus Bodamicus, or in German Bodensee. Gradually, this name began to include the Untersee
Untersee (Lake Constance)
The Untersee is the smaller of the two lakes that together form Lake Constance and forms part of the boundary between Switzerland and Germany.- Geography :...
(Lacus Acronius), so the term "Upper Lake" was introduced for the larger lake.
The Upper Lake is drained by the Seerhein
Seerhein
The Seerhein is a river of about four kilometer long, in the basin of Lake Constance. It is the outflow of the Upper Lake Constance and the main tributary of the Lower Lake Constance. The water level of the lower lake is about 30 cm below the level of the Upper Lake...
in Constance
Constance
Constance is a female given name that derives from Latin and means "constant." Variations of the name include Connie, Constancia, Constanze, Constanza, Stanzy, and Konstanze.Constance may refer to:-People:*Constance Bennett , American actress...
, which flows into the Lower Lake. Its main tributary is the Alpine Rhine.
Parts of the Upper Lake are the Lake Überlingen
Lake Überlingen
Lake Überlingen Lake is the northwestern "finger" of the Obersee part of Lake Constance. The boundary of lake is defined as the ferry link from Meersburg to Constance...
, the Bregenz Bay and the Constance Hopper
Constance Hopper
The Constance Hopper is a bay in Lake Constance, to the east of Constance and north of Kreuzlingen.The leading outflow of the Upper Lake is the Seerhein, which begins in the Constance hopper....
. Lake Überlingen is sometimes considered to be a separate lake, in which case the name "Obersee" only refers to the section between Bregenz and Constance.
The lake is bordered by the Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
cantons of Thurgau
Thurgau
Thurgau is a northeast canton of Switzerland. The population, , is . In 2007, there were a total of 47,390 who were resident foreigners. The capital is Frauenfeld.-History:...
and St. Gallen
Canton of St. Gallen
The Canton of St. Gallen is a canton of Switzerland. St. Gallen is located in the north east of Switzerland. It covers an area of 2,026 km², and has a population of . , the population included 97,461 foreigners, or about 20.9% of the total population. The capital is St. Gallen. Spelling...
, by the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n state of Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal-state of Austria. Although it is the second smallest in terms of area and population , it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein...
and the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
states of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
and Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. The borders between the countries bordering on the south-eastern part of the Obersee have never been established (further explanations in Lake Constance#International borders), only the smaller northwestern Lake Überlingen is completely German territory.