Wasserburg am Bodensee is one of the three

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 ...

n municipalities on the shores of Lake Constance. It is a well known resort, sought out for the supposedly healthy nature of its atmosphere."This is an article." Google 2013.
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Geography

Parts of the municipality

The community is made up of several distinct districts: *Wasserburg **Wasserburg (Church and Castle) **Mooslachen **Mitten **Reutenen **Hengnau **Hattnau **Hege

History

Wasserburg (literally: a castle in the water) was founded in 784, at which time it lay on an island. It was part of the lands of the monastery of

St Gallen St. Gallen or traditionally St Gall, in German language, German; it, San Gallo; rm, Son Gagl) is a Switzerland, Swiss List of cities in Switzerland, city and the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of St. Gallen, St ...

. In 1384 it came within the power of the

Counts of Montfort The counts of Montfort were a German noble dynasty from Swabia. They belonged to high nobility of the Holy Roman Empire and enjoyed the privileged status of imperial immediacy. The influential and wealthy counts of Montfort took their name from a ...

, who sold it in 1592 to the Fuggers. In 1720 the island became a peninsula when it was linked to the mainland by a causeway, some of whose

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

columns still remain. In 1755, the Fuggers gave up sovereignty over Wasserburg to the Habsburgs in settlement of some debts, so the town then formed part of

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 ...

, under the governance of

Tettnang Tettnang is a town in the Bodensee district in southern Baden-Württemberg in a region of Germany known as Swabia. It lies 7 kilometres from Lake Constance. The region produces significant quantities of Tettnang hop, an ingredient of beer, and ...

. In 1806

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

transferred its sovereignty to the

kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

. A steamship pier was built in 1872, the first railway station in 1899, and electric lighting was introduced in 1911/12.

Notable sights

Wasserburg is famous for its picturesque peninsula, on which stand the Church of St George (14th century), Wasserburg Castle, and the ''Malhaus'' (Law courts, now a museum). Also on the peninsula are the quay, from which passenger

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

leave for

Lindau Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major town and island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the county (''Landkreis' ...

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 ...

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

and Rorschach, the

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

harbour and the marina. From the castle there is an outstanding view towards the mountains of Switzerland,

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

and

The Antoniuskapelle in the Selmnau district was first consecrated in 1492. Among its ornaments are a gothic Madonna and several baroque

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

s. The chapel stands on a

glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...

moraine and gives a broad view over Lake Constance.

Literature

Martin Walser Martin Walser (; born 24 March 1927) is a German writer. Life Walser was born in Wasserburg am Bodensee, on Lake Constance. His parents were coal merchants, and they also kept an inn next to the train station in Wasserburg. He described the ...

's novel of a boy growing up during the time of Hitler's rise and defeat, ''A Gushing Fountain'', is set in Wasserburg am Bodensee.

Economy

Nowadays Wasserburg's economy is based mainly on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

and the cultivation of

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

. The municipality possesses two beach swimming pools, a boat hire facility, and a

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

school. Numerous hotels, boarding houses and bed and breakfast establishments offer a total of over 1,700 tourist beds. The local fishing industry supplies the town's restaurants with fresh fish from Lake Constance, especially whitefish.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasserburg Am Bodensee Populated places established in the 8th century 784 establishments Lindau (district) 8th-century establishments in Germany Populated places on Lake Constance