Meersburg am Bodensee, Deutschland

The Shot and Trivia:

 

I shot this on my trip to Lake Constance (and the city of Konstanz) in Southern Germany. The geography and the polity of this region was as fascinating to my tuned Indian mind where states fight over every  single issue under the sun like Water, Electricity and what not! But why does it matter here?

 

The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps and all the three countries rest claim over it. Specifically, its shorelines lie in the German federal-states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, 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. However, I was surprised to find out that there hasn’t been any major disputes concerning this no country’s land!

 

It was also my first experience in crossing International borders on foot. Although I have seen (and fascinated) by seeing Canada on the other side of Niagara Falls and literally being a stone’s throw away from crossing the border in Detroit, I have actually never crossed them by foot. I wanted to experience it this time and so we walked all the way back to the next train station which was on the Swiss side to satisfy that wish!

 

The day proved to be sunny with just a few patches of clouds and we made the most out of it by taking a ferry towards Meersburg. Interestingly, it was an Austrian ferry that we took towards Meersburg and a German one while on the way back. Add that to the Swiss train that we took to reach the city, we used the transportation of all 3 countries in a single trip!

 

The Scene and history:

 

Meersburg is a town of Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of Germany at Lake Constance. It is famous for its charming medieval city. The lower town ("Unterstadt") and uptown ("Oberstadt") are reserved for pedestrians only and connected by two stairways and a steep street ("Steigstrasse"). And needless to point out, there is a wonderful beach on the shores of the Lake.

 

The name of the town means "Burg on the Lake", the former referring to the castle which, according to a tradition from 1548, it was built here in 630 by the Merovingian king Dagobert I. The commune obtained the status of free city in 1299, though nominally still under the Bishop of Constance. In 1803 it was annexed to the Land of Baden.After World War II, Meersburg remained in the French military occupation area in Germany.

 

Meersburg is the northern terminus of a car ferry to Constance. Meersburg is also connected by pleasure boats on Lake Constance to Ueberlingen (westwards), to Lindau, Bregenz (eastwards) and to Constance opposite.

 

EXIF Information:

ISO 100 | f/10 | Canon 10-22 USM @ 16mm | 1/200 sec