The Gnadensee is part of
Lower 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 Co ...
(german: Untersee), the western part of the lake.
Description
The Gnadensee lies between
Allensbach in the north and the
island of Reichenau
Reichenau Island () is an island in Lake Constance in Southern Germany. It lies almost due west of the city of Konstanz, between the Gnadensee and the Untersee, two parts of Lake Constance. With a total land surface of and a circumference o ...
in the south. In the west it extends to the
Mettnau peninsula (
Radolfzell
Radolfzell am Bodensee is a town in Germany at the western end of Lake Constance approximately 18 km northwest of Konstanz. It is the third largest town, after Constance and Singen, in the district of Konstanz, in Baden-Württemberg.
Rad ...
) and its eastern end borders on the
Wollmatinger Ried
The nature reserve of Wollmatinger Ried – Untersee – Gnadensee is a protected area on the shores of Lake Constance in Germany. It has an area of 767 hectares and is the largest and most important nature reserve on the German side of Lake Const ...
Nature Reserve and the Reichenaudamm with its prominent avenue of poplars. The extremely small part in the northwest is called the
Markelfinger Winkel. Together with the latter it has an area of 13 square kilometres. It reaches a maximum depth of 19 metres.
Name
The name of the Gnadensee probably dates to the period when the local
judiciary
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
was based on the island of Reichenau. If an accused person was found guilty and sentenced to death, the execution could not take place on the island. It had to be carried out on the mainland as the whole island was holy ground. As a result, the convict was taken by boat to the mainland in the direction of present-day Allensbach, in order that the sentence could be carried out. If the local ruler, the abbot, wanted to reprieve the criminal, he had a bell rung before the boat reached the far shore. This was a signal to the executioner on the mainland that the convict had received a pardon or ''Gnade'' ("mercy" or "grace" in German).
[Helmut Fidler: ''Kleine Kulturgeschichte des Ruderns am Untersee'', in: ''Hegau. Zeitschrift für Geschichte, Volkskunde und Naturgeschichte des Gebietes zwischen Rhein, Donau und Bodensee'', Jahresband 68 (2011), pp. 5–26, here p. 12.]
Another explanation is that the name Gnadensee is derived from
Mary, Mother of God
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
, the "Lady of our Grace", and is an
ellipsis
The ellipsis (, also known informally as dot dot dot) is a series of dots that indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning. The plural is ellipses. The term origin ...
of the word ''Gnaden
rauee'' ("Lady of Grace Lake"), as the
monastery in Mittelzell was dedicated to Saint Mary.
References
External links
{{Authority control
Geography of Lake Constance