The Obersee (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
for "Upper Lake"), also known as Upper Lake Constance, is the much larger of the two parts of
Lake Constance
Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...
, the other part being the
Untersee ("Lower Lake").
Geography
The Obersee has an area of 473 km² in size and extends for 63 km between
Bregenz
Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...
and
Bodman-Ludwigshafen. Its maximum width is 14 km. It drains through the
Seerhein
The Seerhein ("Lake Rhine") is a river about four kilometres 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&n ...
in
Constance
Constance may refer to:
Places
*Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English
*Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada
* Constance, Kentucky
* Constance, Minnesota
* Constance (Portugal)
* Mount Constance, Washington State
People
* Consta ...
into the
Untersee. Its main inflow is the
Alpine Rhine
The Alpine Rhine Valley (german: Alpenrheintal) is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the part of the Alpine Rhine (german: Alpenrhein ) between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and the Alpine Rhine's mouth at ...
.
The distinctive, northwestern arm and -large
Lake Überlingen
Lake Überlingene.g. see Kolumban Hutter, Yongqi Wang and Irina P. Chubarenko. "Trasverse Internal Wave Motion in Lake Überlingen" in ''Physics of Lakes: Volume 2: Lakes as Oscillators''. London: Springer, 2011, p. 179. (Standard German of ...
(
Standard German of Germany: ''Überlinger See'') is part of the Upper Lake Constance, as well as the
Bay of Bregenz
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a nar ...
, and the
.
The countries that border the lake are
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, with its cantons of
Thurgau
Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld.
Thurgau is part ...
and
St. Gallen
, neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach
, twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic)
, website = ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, with its federal state
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...
, and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, with its federal states of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
and
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
.
The border between the riparian states on the south-eastern main part of the Obersee have never been jointly agreed (see
Lake Constance
Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...
); only the smaller northwestern water of
Lake Überlingen
Lake Überlingene.g. see Kolumban Hutter, Yongqi Wang and Irina P. Chubarenko. "Trasverse Internal Wave Motion in Lake Überlingen" in ''Physics of Lakes: Volume 2: Lakes as Oscillators''. London: Springer, 2011, p. 179. (Standard German of ...
is completely German territory.
Origin of the name
The
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
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
Lower Lake (''Lacus Acronius''), so the term "Upper Lake" was introduced for the larger lake.
See also
*
Untersee (Lake Constance)
The Untersee (German for ''Lower Lake''), also known as Lower Lake Constance, is the smaller of the two lakes that together form Lake Constance and forms part of the boundary between Switzerland and Germany.
Geography
The Lower Lake Consta ...
References
External links
International Bodensee ConferenceBodensee-data of the International Lake Constance Conference
{{Authority control
LObersee
Geography of Lake Constance
Lakes of Baden-Württemberg
Lakes of Vorarlberg
Lakes of the canton of St. Gallen
Lakes of Thurgau
Konstanz (district)
Bodenseekreis
Lindau (district)