The Bavarian Alps ( German : Bayerische Alpen ) is a collective name for several mountain ranges of the Northern Limestone Alps within the German state of Bavaria .
92-703: The term in its wider sense refers to that part of the Eastern Alps that lies on Bavarian state territory. However, it is traditionally understood that the Bavarian Alps are only those ranges between the rivers Lech and Saalach ( Altbayern ). In this narrower sense, the Allgäu Alps in Swabia , which have only been part of Bavaria in more recent times, and the Berchtesgaden Alps in the east are not considered part of
184-565: 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
276-823: A drainage basin that covers an area of 14,109 km (5,448 sq mi). It risesin the Hohe Tauern national park of the Central Eastern Alps in Austria with its source being 1,898 m (6,227 ft) above sea level. It is a tributary of the Drava and subsequently the Danube . The important rivers in Tyrol are the Adige , Inn , and Drau (or Drava ). The important river in Carinthia
368-668: 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 is situated where Germany , Switzerland , and Austria meet. Its shorelines lie in
460-507: 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
552-731: A good portion of northern Slovenia ( Upper Carniola and Lower Styria ). In the south the range is bound by the Italian Padan Plain ; in the north the valley of the Danube River separates it from the Bohemian Massif . The easternmost spur is formed by the Vienna Woods range, with the Leopoldsberg overlooking the Danube and the Vienna basin , which is the transition zone to the arch of
644-687: A long-time concern and issue along the Bavarian Alps. Thanks to recent strides in conservation, many of these animals are being reintroduced into this habitat through park services such as the National Forest in Bavaria. Eastern Alps The Eastern Alps are usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley, up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide , and down
736-696: A protected piece of upland forestry in Austria. The Pasterze Glacier a protected piece of mountain glacier in Austria. The ranges are subdivided by several deeply indented river valleys, mostly running east–west, including the Inn , Salzach , Enns , Adige , Drava , and Mur valleys. According to the traditional Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps (AVE) widely used by Austrian and German mountaineers , these mountain chains comprise several dozen smaller mountain groups, each assigned to four larger regions: For
828-724: 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
920-658: 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
1012-479: 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
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#17328370091831104-741: 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
1196-563: 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
1288-719: 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
1380-515: 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
1472-543: Is covered by forest (lagly beech, fir, and spruce) and the amount of forested land is still increasing. Mount Peca or Mount Raduha is in the eastern part of Kamnik–Savinja Alps of northern Slovenia . The Alpine Rhine has as its source the Swiss canton of Grisons, which flows through the Chur Rhine Valley, or Grisonian Rhine Valley ( German : Churer Rheintal, or Bündner Rheintal ) and Vorarlberg Rhine Valley ( German : Voralberger Rheintal ). It later forms
1564-497: Is located in was probably inhabited in the early Stone Age . Several surviving pre-Roman place names exist in and about the city. In the 4th century Chur also became the seat of the first Christian bishopric north to the Alps . Despite a legend assigning its foundation to a legendary British king, St Lucius, the first known bishop is one Asinio in AD 451. In the 6th century the Slavs settled
1656-710: Is mountainous. and the highest point of Liechtenstein is the Vordere Grauspitz (Vordergrauspitz) mountain with an altitude of 2599m above sea level. The Falknishorn, at 2452 meters above sea level, is the 5th highest mountain in Liechtenstein and represents the southernmost point of the country. The area known as the Liechtenstein-Graubünden-Vorarlberg border triangle is around the Naafkopf mountain that reaches 2570m above sea level. In addition to
1748-562: Is the Drau (or Drava ). The important river in Slovenia is the Sava . Triglav National Park was founded in 1981. It was originally set out in 1924 on a smaller scale and scrapped between 1944 and 1961. The mountains of the canton include part of a thrust fault that was declared a geologic UNESCO World Heritage Site , under the name Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona , in 2008. The Vienna Woods are
1840-558: Is the Piz Buin , whose rocky peak of 3,312 m (10,866 ft). The Silvretta Alps cut across Tirol and Vorarlberg (both in Austria), and Graubünden (Switzerland). Mount Sulzfluh is well frequented by climbers and is situated in the Rätikon range of the Alps , on the border between Austria and Switzerland . On the eastern side is a mountain path, of grade T4, allowing non-climbers to reach
1932-646: 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
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#17328370091832024-606: Is today Ticino was settled by the Lepontii, a Celtic tribe. Later, probably around the reign of Augustus, it became part of the Roman Empire . In ancient times, the region had long been inhabited by the Celts before it became part of the ancient Roman provinces of Raetia and Noricum . There were two Celtic tribes settled in the future Vorarlberg area: the Raeti in the highlands, and
2116-646: The Carpathian Mountains . The highest mountain in the Eastern Alps is Piz Bernina at 4,049 m (13,284 ft) in the Bernina Group of the Western Rhaetian Alps in Switzerland. The sole four-thousander of the range, its name is taken from the Bernina Pass and was given in 1850 by Johann Coaz , who also made the first ascent. The rocks composing Piz Bernina are diorites and gabbros , while
2208-530: 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
2300-729: 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
2392-524: 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
2484-838: The Karawanks mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps and contains both the Meža Valley down to the confluence with the Drava Valley ( Dravska dolina ) and the Municipality of Jezersko south of the Seeberg Saddle mountain pass, totalling 478 km (185 sq mi): Austrian and Slovenian Carinthia has a very diverse landscape, with predominance of hilly and mountainous terrain of Pleistocene oragins and later scuptedby by former glaciers. Over 2/3s of Slovenian Carinthia
2576-505: The Limes and caused widespread devastation of Roman cities and settlements in the Crisis of the Third Century . The Roman Empire succeeded in re-establishing the Rhine as the border, but it was now a frontier province. The late Roman influx from the north by the Alemanni also influenced the makeup of the Principality of Liechtenstein and is also evidenced by the remains of a Roman fort at Schaan . Roman villas have been excavated in Schaanwald and Nendeln . The area that Innsbruck
2668-520: The Liro River to Lake Como in the south. The peaks and mountain passes are lower than the Western Alps , while the range itself is broader and less arched. The Eastern Alps include the eastern parts of Switzerland (mainly Graubünden ), all of Liechtenstein , and most of Austria from Vorarlberg to the east, as well as parts of extreme Southern Germany ( Upper Bavaria ), northwestern Italy ( Lombardy ), northeastern Italy ( Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol , Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia ) and
2760-457: 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,
2852-406: 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
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2944-424: The Vindelici in the lowlands, i.e. the Lake Constance region and the Rhine Valley prior to the Romans conquered Vorarlberg area. Rome conquered the area of the future Municipality of Schellenberg in 15BCE. Most of the lands of the region were once part of a Roman province called Raetia , which was established in 15 BCE. The current capital of Graubünden, Chur , was known as Curia in Roman times. The area
3036-412: 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
3128-491: The glaciers . Depositions by ice age rivers and glaciers left behind a gently rolling landscape in the Alpine Foreland with lakes and bogs. Due to hunting and environmental shifts, many animals are just now being reintroduced into the habitat they once roamed. The continent's giant cat, the lynx, is one of those returnees. The lynx disappeared from the Bavarian Alps in the 19th century due to human persecution, along with predatory demands. A release project by Czech colleagues in
3220-406: 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
3312-416: The 1980s allowed for the lynx to have a second wind in the area, with the growth of the lynx population in the region. The gray wolf is the second giant predator and native to the Bavarian Forest. Like the lynx, the wolf was presumed extinct in the region, but due to conservation efforts and restraint on hunting in the area, they, too, are making a comeback. Mammals such as wildcats, otters, or beavers inhabit
3404-405: The 2817 metre summit. There are six known caves in the limestone mountain, with lengths between 800 and 3000 or more yards, all with entrances on the Eastern side, in Switzerland. Mount Grauspitz ( Vorder Grauspitze or Vorder Grauspitz on some maps) is the highest summit of the Rätikon, located on the border between Liechtenstein and Switzerland . About half of Liechtenstein's territory
3496-402: 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 ,
3588-411: The Bavarian Alps. The term is frequently used, but does not correspond to the common classification of the Eastern Alps (AVE) developed by the German , Austrian and South Tyrol Alpine Clubs . It should not be confused with the term Bavarian Prealps either. The latter only covers the Bavarian section of the Prealps between the River Loisach in the west and the River Inn in the east. According to
3680-451: 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 ,
3772-411: The Eastern Alps. The first signs of humans living in the area of present-day Liechtenstein can be dated back to the Middle Paleolithic era. Neolithic farming settlements appeared in the valleys around 5300 BCE. A Bronze Age settlement at the site goes back as far as the Pfyn culture (3900–3500 BCE), making Chur one of the oldest settlements in Switzerland . In ancient times, the area of what
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3864-405: 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
3956-411: 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 the lake from the south. The High Rhine flows westbound out of
4048-410: 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
4140-435: The Großglockner and the adjacent Pasterze Glacier has been a special protection area within the High Tauern National Park since 1986. Other high Tyrolian mountains include Königspitze (3,851 m), Monte Cevedale (3,769 m), and Wildspitze (3,768 m). Crossing Tyrol, on the border between North and South Tyrol, runs the main chain of the Alps . The city of Innsbruck is in the broad valley between high mountains of
4232-407: The Italian Partizione Delle Alpi classification, the Bavarian Alps ( Alpi Bavaresi ) comprise the Allgäu and Lechtal Alps as well as the adjacent Achen Lake mountains. A rising number of mega charcoal pieces dated to the Bronze Age suggests increased slash and burn activities, possibly linked to the creation of open space for pasturing. These results provide evidence of human interaction with
4324-425: The Italian border from Frulia into Slovenia's Municipality of Bovec. The highest mountain is Mt. Triglav 2,864 m (9,396 ft). The High Tauern mountain range in which Mt Grossglockner , 3,797 m (12,457.35 ft) lies, separates Carentania from the state of Salzburg in the northwest. To the northeast and to the east beyond the Pack Saddle mountain pass is the state of Styria . Carinthia lies in
4416-425: 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
4508-473: 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
4600-399: 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
4692-464: The Rhine River. In 926 more Magyar raiders attacked the abbey and the nearby town of St Gallen. The Lordship of Schellenberg was constituted in the 9th century by Charlemagne . Lake Constance Lake Constance ( German : Bodensee , pronounced [ˈboːdn̩zeː] ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps : Upper Lake Constance ( Obersee ), Lower Lake Constance ( Untersee ), and
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#17328370091834784-437: 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,
4876-440: 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
4968-421: 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
5060-412: The area , and the local dioceses collapsed. This is shown in archaeological culture . A Slavic language group was established in the area. The Alpine Slavs , who are reckoned to be ancestors of present-day Slovenes, also settled in the easternmost mountainous areas of Friuli , known as the Friulian Slavia , as well in as the Karst Plateau and the area north and south of Gorizia . At this time, Chur
5152-406: The border between Switzerland to the west and Liechtenstein and later Austria to the east. The Mur ( German pronunciation: [ˈmuːɐ̯] ) or Mura ( Slovene pronunciation: [ˈmúːɾa] ; Croatian: [mǔːra] ; Hungarian: [ˈmurɒ] ; Prekmurje Slovene : Müra or Möra ) is a 464 kilometres (288 mi). long river in Central Europe with
5244-409: The breakdown of these regions into mountain groups see the List of mountain groups in the Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps . The Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) has a slightly different classification of the ranges, based on the political borders in the canton of Graubünden. In Italy the 1926 Partizione delle Alpi concept is quite common, recently superseded by the SOIUSA attempt to combine
5336-432: 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,
5428-491: The different approaches. Other specific, especially hydrographical arrangements are also in use. The Alps comprise four main nappe systems: During the Würm glaciation , the Eastern Alps were drier than the Western Alps , with the contiguous ice shield ending in the region of the Niedere Tauern in Austria . This allowed many species to survive the ice age in the Eastern Alps where they could not survive elsewhere. For that reason, many species of plants are endemic to
5520-475: 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
5612-428: The fall of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in 553, the Germanic tribe of the Lombards invaded Italy via the Tyrol and founded the Lombard Kingdom of Italy , which no longer included all of Tyrol, but only its southern part. The northern part of Tyrol came under the influence of the Bavarii , while the west was probably part of Alamannia . Most of Tyrol came under the control of the Duchy of Bavaria (created c. 555) while
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#17328370091835704-417: 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
5796-420: 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
5888-419: 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
5980-411: 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
6072-419: 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
6164-474: 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
6256-410: 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
6348-499: 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
6440-405: The massif in general is composed of granites ( Piz Corvatsch , Piz Palü ). Excepting other peaks in the Bernina range, the next highest is the Ortler at 3,905 m (12,812 ft) in Italian South Tyrol and third the Großglockner , which stands on the border of Carinthia & East Tyrol in Austria, at 3,798 m (12,461 ft), the highest mountain of Austria. The region around
6532-450: 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
6624-512: 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
6716-707: The mountain environment, beginning in the Neolithic Age and clear evidence of mountain pasture use beginning during the Iron Age at 750 BC. Based on palynology and pedoanthracology it is, however, difficult to clearly differentiate between pasturing, hunting, and other human interactions with the environment. The Bavarian Alps in their broader sense include the following parts of the mountain ranges listed − in this tabular overview sorted according to AVE roughly from west to east and with maximum heights above sea level (NN) . The highest peaks and elevations shown relate to that part of
6808-679: The mountain group that lies in Bavaria, and not to the overall group. For example, the highest mountain of the Allgäu Alps , the 2,657 m above sea level (AA) high Großer Krottenkopf , lies in Tyrol and is not shown in the table. The highest peak in the Bavarian Alps and in Germany as a whole is the Zugspitze . It lies in the western part of the Wetterstein range and has a high Alpine character with its height of 2,962 m above NN as well as its two small glaciers . By clicking on
6900-510: The national park too. The region's most well-known bird is the capercaillie. The stocks of the capercaillie, which is quite rare in Germany, also decreased and nearly vanished in the Bavarian Forest during the 20th century. Although the bird was close to extinction, path regulations and sanctuaries helped to further their population growth. The persecution of native animals in the region has been
6992-781: The peaks of the Alpine chain, which belong to the Limestone Alps, two inselbergs , Fläscherberg (1135 meters above sea level .) in the south and Eschnerberg (698 m) in the north, rise from the Rhine Valley and belong to the Helvetic cover or flysch zone of the Alps. A sandstone mountain belt called the Flyschzone runs along the Northern Margin of the Limestone Alps and used to be part
7084-523: 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
7176-647: The rest remained under the Lombards. By the 590s AD, today's East Tyrol and Carinthia had come to be referred to in historical sources as Provincia Sclaborum (the Country of Slavs). The territory settled by Slavs, however, was also inhabited by remnants of the indigenous Romanised Celtic and Pannonian population, who preserved the Christian faith and helped convert the Slavs of Carantania . From 623 to 658 Slavic peoples between
7268-483: 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,
7360-465: 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
7452-703: The so-called North Chain in the Karwendel Alps ( Hafelekarspitze , 2,334 metres or 7,657 feet) to the north and Patscherkofel (2,246 m or 7,369 ft) and Serles (2,718 m or 8,917 ft) to the south. The name "Innsbruck" means 'bridge over the Inn'. Vorarlberg 's notable mountain ranges include the Silvretta, the Rätikon, the Verwall and the Arlberg. The highest mountain
7544-730: The submereded sea bed of the Tethys Ocean . The chain also includes the Klippenzone and Steinitzer Wald . Liechtenstein lies entirely within the Rhaetikon and is thus allotted either to the Eastern Alps (two-part division of the Alps ) or to the Central Alps (three-part division of the Alps) depending on how its geology classified. The Rätikon mountain range, in the Central Eastern Alps , derives its name from Raetia . The Julian Alps cross
7636-519: The upper Elbe River and the Karawanks mountain range. They united under the leadership of King Samo (Kralj Samo). Carantania, (AKA: Carentania, Slovene: Karantanija, German: Karantanien, in Old Slavic *Korǫtanъ), was a former Alpine Slavic (Alpska Slovanščina) \proto-Slovenian principality that emerged from Samo's Empire in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern Slovenia. Carantania
7728-644: 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
7820-640: The word "List" in the various rows of the Lists column, a list other mountains in the particular range may be viewed (noting that some of them will be outside Bavaria or the Bavarian Alps). The table may be sorted by clicking on the sort symbols in the column headers. Like the Alps as a whole, the Bavarian Alps as part of the Northern Limestone Alps were heavily influenced by the last ice age . Cirques , lakes and typical U-shaped valleys were formed by
7912-691: Was absorbed into the Frankish Empire in 745. The province of Lower Rhaetia was formed in 814. The Frankish March of Carinthia , created within the Carolingian Empire in 889. The city of Chur suffered several invasions: by the Magyars in 925–926, when the cathedral was destroyed, and by the Saracens (940 and 954), but afterwards it flourished thanks to its location, where the roads from several major Alpine transit routes come together and continue down
8004-786: Was also conquered by the Franks . After the fall of the Western Roman Empire , Ticino was ruled by the Ostrogoths , the Lombards and the Franks . The Alemanni or Alamanni , were a confederation of Germanic tribes on the Upper Rhine River. Eastern Switzerland, Vorarlberg and Liechtenstein was under the Alemanni and 73% of Liechtenstein's current population still speak the native Alemannic dialect of German at home as of 2022. After
8096-675: 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
8188-584: 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
8280-566: 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
8372-558: Was later part of the diocese of Chur . A Roman road crossed Liechtenstein from south to north, traversing the Alps by the Splügen Pass and following the right bank of the Rhine at the edge of the floodplain, for long uninhabited because of periodic flooding. Some Roman villas have been excavated in Schaanwald and Nendeln . Nearly 2,000 years later, some of the population of Graubünden still speak Romansh which has descended from Vulgar Latin . By 259, Alamanni tribes had overrun
8464-458: 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
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