Lake Constance

Lake Constance (German: Bodensee) is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps,
and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee ("upper lake"), the Untersee ("lower lake"),
and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.
The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps. Specifically, its
shorelines lie in the German federal states of Bavaria and Baden-Wrttemberg, the Austrian
federal state of Vorarlberg, and the Swiss cantons of Thurgau and St. Gallen. The Rhine flows
into it from the south following the Austro-Swiss frontier.
Lake Constance was first mentioned by the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela about 43
AD. He noted that the Rhine flows through two lakes, and gave them the Latin names Lacus
Venetus (Obersee) and Lacus Acronius (Untersee). Pliny the Elder used the name Lacus
Brigantinus, after the Roman city of Brigantium (today Bregenz). The lake is also colloquially
known as the Swabian Sea
[1]
(das schwbische Meer, also sometimes Suabian or Svebian
Sea).
The freshwater lake sits at 395 m (1,296 ft) above sea level and is Central Europe's third
largest, after Lake Balaton and Lake Geneva. It is 63 km (39 mi) long, and at its widest point,
nearly 14 km (8.7 mi). It covers approximately 571 km
2
(220 sq mi) of total area.
[2]
The
greatest depth is 252 metres (827 ft) in the middle of the eastern part (Obersee). Its volume is
approximately 1e10 m
3
(1.310
10
cu yd). The lake has four parts: the main section, called
Obersee, 476 km
2
(184 sq mi); the north section, berlinger See, 61 km
2
(24 sq mi); the west
section, Untersee, 63 km
2
(24 sq mi); and the northwest section, the Zeller See and
Gnadensee. The regulated Rhine flows into the lake in the southeast, through the Obersee, the
city of Konstanz and the Untersee and flows out near Stein am Rhein. Lake Constance
provides fresh water to many cities in south Germany.
Lake Constance was formed by the Rhine Glacier during the ice age and is a zungenbecken
lake. The Rhine, the Bregenzer Ache, and the Dornbirner Ache carry sediments from the Alps
to the lake, thus gradually decreasing the depth and coast line extension of the lake in the
southeast.
The lake was frozen in the years 1077 (?), 1326 (partial), 1378 (partial), 1435, 1465 (partial),
1477 (partial), 1491 (partial?), 1517 (partial), 1571 (partial), 1573, 1600 (partial), 1684, 1695,
1709 (partial), 1795, 1830, 1880 (partial), and 1963.
Approximately 1,000 tonnes (1,100 short tons) of fish were caught by 150 professional
fishermen in 2001 which was below the previous ten year average of 1,200 tonnes (1,300
short tons) per year. The Lake Constance trout (Salmo trutta) was almost extinct in the 1980s
due to pollution, but thanks to protective measures has made a significant return. Lake
Constance was the home of the now extinct species of trout Salvelinus profundus.
[3]
as well as
of the Lake Constance whitefish (Coregonus gutturosus).
[4]

The lake itself is an important drinking water source for southwestern Germany, called
Bodensee-Wasserversorgung ("Lake Constance Water Supply").
[5]

Name
After the Council of Constance, the Latin speaking Catholic world gave the lake its current
international name. It was derived from the city name Constantia (Latin name of Konstanz), that, in
turn, was named after a Roman emperor (either Constantius Chlorus or his grandson Constantius II).
The German name, Bodensee, derives on the other hand from the town name Bodman (today's
Bodman-Ludwigshafen) that is situated at a nearby branch of the lake just some 8 km north-west of
Konstanz.
Islands in the lake
The three major islands are:
Mainau Island
Reichenau Island
Lindau