Lake Constance

This article is about the European lake. For other uses, see Lake Constance (disambiguation).

"Bodensee" redirects here. For the municipality, see Bodensee, Lower Saxony.

Lake Constance
Bodensee (German)
Satellite image
Lake Constance Location within Alps Lake Constance Location within Canton of St. Gallen Lake Constance Location within Switzerland Lake Constance Location within Baden-Württemberg Lake Constance Location within Germany Lake Constance Location within Vorarlberg Lake Constance Location within Austria
Interactive map of Lake Constance
Map
Location	Germany, Switzerland, Austria
Coordinates	47°35′N 9°28′E
Type	glacial lake
Part of	Rhine
Primary inflows	Alpine Rhine
Primary outflows	High Rhine
Catchment area	11,500 km2 (4,400 sq mi)
Basin countries	Germany, Switzerland, Austria
Max. length	63 km (39 mi)
Max. width	14 km (8.7 mi)
Surface area	536 km2 (207 sq mi)
Average depth	90 m (300 ft)
Max. depth	251 m (823 ft)
Water volume	48 km3 (12 cu mi; 39,000,000 acre⋅ft)
Residence time	4.3 years
Shore length1	273 km (170 mi)
Surface elevation	395 m (1,296 ft)
Frozen	1795, 1830, 1880 (partial), 1963
Islands	Mainau Reichenau Lindau and others
Sections/sub-basins	Obersee Überlinger See Seerhein Untersee Gnadensee Markelfinger Winkel Zeller See Rheinsee
Settlements	see list
References
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Constance (German: Bodensee, pronounced [ˈboːdn̩zeː] ^ⓘ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (Obersee), Lower Lake Constance (Untersee), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (lit. 'Rhine of the lake(s)'). These water bodies lie within the Lake Constance Basin (Bodenseebecken) in the Alpine Foreland through which the Rhine flows. The nearby Mindelsee is not considered part of Lake Constance. The lake is situated where Germany, Switzerland, and Austria meet. Its shorelines lie in the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria; the Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, Thurgau, and Schaffhausen; and the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. The actual locations of the country borders within the lake are disputed, with Austria, Germany and Switzerland all holding different opinions on the matter.

The Alpine Rhine forms, in its original course (Alter Rhein), the Austro-Swiss border and flows into the lake from the south. The High Rhine flows westbound out of the lake and forms (with the exception of the Canton of Schaffhausen, Rafzerfeld and Basel-Stadt) the German-Swiss border as far as to the city of Basel. The Leiblach forms the Austria–Germany border east of the lake.

The most populous towns on the Upper Lake are Constance (German: Konstanz), Friedrichshafen, Bregenz, Lindau, Überlingen and Kreuzlingen. The largest town on the Lower Lake is Radolfzell. The largest islands are Reichenau in the Lower Lake, and Lindau and Mainau in the Upper Lake. Bodanrück, a large peninsula, separates the Upper and Lower Lake.

While in English and in the Romance languages, the lake is named after the city of Constance from Roman emperor Constantius II, the German name derives from the village of Bodman (municipality of Bodman-Ludwigshafen), in the northwesternmost corner of the lake.