Constance

Constance, LAKE (called by the Germans Bodensee or Bodmansee—the Lacus Brigantinus of the Romans), lies between Switzerland and Germany, and on the north side of the Alps of Switzerland, and forms a meeting-point of the five territories—Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria, Vorarlberg (Austria), and Switzerland. It has an elevation of 1306 feet above the sea. Lake Constance is traversed by the Rhine from east to west; its greatest length is about 44 miles, and utmost breadth 9 miles, the area being 208 sq. miles; the mean depth is 490 feet, while the greatest depth is 906 feet. The southernmost of the two western extremities is called the lower lake, and is separated from the main lake by a narrow channel two miles long, and lies full a yard below the level of the lake. The shores are formed by hilly lands, with low tracts at the mouths of the Rhine and smaller rivers. Cornfields, vineyards, pastures, orchards, and wooded declivities, with here and there the ruins of old castles interspersed, surround the lake. The water has a dark-green hue, often rises suddenly some ten or twelve feet during a thaw, and rolls in high waves during the prevalence of a strong south, north-west, or east wind. Without visible cause it sometimes rises and falls to a considerable degree. Usually the level rises from June onwards to August, when it sinks again. It is seldom frozen, except in very severe winters. The fisheries of this lake are important. Since 1824 steam-navigation has added to the facilities of commerce across the lake, and its commercial importance has been greatly increased by the connection of the chief towns on its shores with the railways of South Germany and Switzerland. The chief towns are Constance, Bregenz, Lindau, and Friedrichshafen. See Capper's Shores and Cities of the Bodensee (1881).