Konstanz: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
From 1414 to 1418 this small lake town was the centre of the Christian world. Three rival popes were claiming the throne, and a church council met in Konstanz to end the schism; it deposed them, elected a new pope, and burned the Czech reformer Jan Hus as a heretic. Konstanz was barely bombed in the Second World War, and the story goes that it kept its lights on so that bombers would take it for Swiss Kreuzlingen next door. This is a two-hour walk from the harbour through the old town.
A short history of Konstanz
Konstanz lies where the Rhine flows out of Lake Constance, and the Romans already built a fort here. Around the year 600 it became the seat of a bishop, and for centuries its diocese ruled a large territory on both sides of the lake. From 1414 to 1418 the Council of Constance met in the city, ending the Great Schism in the Catholic Church and electing Pope Martin V, the only papal election ever held north of the Alps. At the same council, in 1415, the Czech reformer Jan Hus was burned at the stake. In 1806 the city passed to Baden. In the Second World War it was not bombed, because it lay right on the Swiss border and kept its lights on. The university opened in 1966.
The ten best sights in Konstanz
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1Council Building
The lake terrace of the restaurant inside is the best seat in the harbour
2ImperiaWait a few minutes on the pier: the statue slowly turns to face every side
3Konstanz MinsterClimb the tower for the view over the lake to the Alps; closed in bad weather
4Hus HouseA small museum in the old town; free, with short opening hours
5NiederburgThe oldest quarter, lanes of wine bars between the minster and the Rhine
6RosgartenmuseumThe town's history in a medieval guild house; an hour on a rainy day
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7Konstanz Synagogue
A new synagogue on Sigismundstrasse, the street where the old one was burned and blown up in 1938
8MainauGo early or late: the flower island fills with coach tours by midday
9Reichenau IslandDrive over the causeway; vegetable stalls sell the island's produce by the road
10MeersburgAcross the lake by ferry; park at the top of town and walk down
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Konstanz →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Konstanz:
Free walking tours in Konstanz
The council that chose a pope
From 1414 to 1418 this small lake town was the centre of the Christian world. Three rival popes were claiming the throne, and a church council met in Konstanz to end the schism; it deposed them, elected a new pope, and burned the Czech reformer Jan Hus as a heretic. Konstanz was barely bombed in the Second World War, and the story goes that it kept its lights on so that bombers would take it for Swiss Kreuzlingen next door. This is a two-hour walk from the harbour through the old town.
- Council Building · Built in 1388 as a warehouse for the lake trade. In November 1417 the cardinals met here and elected Martin V, the only papal election ever held in Germany.
- Imperia · Peter Lenk's nine-metre statue caused an uproar when it went up on the harbour pier in 1993. It shows a courtesan of the council years holding two naked little men — a pope and an emperor — and it turns full circle every few minutes.
- Konstanz Minster · For over a thousand years this was the cathedral of the bishops of Konstanz, whose diocese was the largest in the German lands until it was dissolved in 1821. On 6 July 1415 the council sentenced Jan Hus to death here.
- Hus House · Tradition says Hus lodged in this house when he arrived in Konstanz in 1414 under a promise of safe conduct from the emperor Sigismund. The promise was broken within weeks and he was arrested.
- Hussenstein · A boulder set up in 1862 marks the field outside the walls where Hus was burned in 1415, and his follower Jerome of Prague a year later. Their ashes were thrown into the Rhine so no relics could be kept.
- Rheintorturm · The gate tower guarded the old bridge where the Rhine leaves the lake. Konstanz is the one German town of any size on the Swiss side of the river.
Islands and the far shore
The western end of the lake is a landscape of islands and inlets, and the monks got there first: Reichenau was one of the great monasteries of early medieval Europe. This loop takes in two islands by car, then crosses on the ferry to the north shore for a castle, a baroque church and a Stone Age village on stilts. A full day; the ferry runs often enough that no booking is needed. Lake Constance, by the way, has no agreed border at all: Germany, Switzerland and Austria have never divided its main basin between them.
- St George, Oberzell · The walls of the nave are covered with paintings of Christ's miracles from around the year 1000, a rare surviving cycle of Ottonian wall painting north of the Alps. The island has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.
- Reichenau Minster · The abbey was founded in 724 by the wandering bishop Pirmin. Its scriptorium produced illuminated manuscripts for emperors, and some of them are now on UNESCO's Memory of the World register.
- Mainau · For more than five hundred years the island belonged to the Teutonic Knights. In 1932 it passed to Count Lennart Bernadotte, a Swedish prince who had lost his title by marrying a commoner, and he turned it into the flower garden it is today.
- Meersburg Castle · It claims to be the oldest inhabited castle in Germany. The poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, whose face was on the German 20-mark note, spent her last years here and died in the castle in 1848.
- Unteruhldingen Pile Dwellings · Reconstructed Stone Age and Bronze Age houses standing on stilts in the lake, first built here in 1922. Since 2011 the prehistoric pile-dwelling sites around the Alps, including this shore, have been on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
- Birnau Basilica · A pilgrimage church built in 1747–50. Look by the altar of St Bernard for the 'Honigschlecker', a chubby cherub licking honey off his finger — a joke about Bernard, whose preaching was called sweet as honey.
Down the Rhine to the falls
West of Konstanz the Rhine leaves the lake and becomes a river again, winding between Germany and Switzerland toward the Rhine Falls. This is the road to Zurich, so it is the morning of the next leg. Most of it is in Switzerland: have passports to hand, and remember that Swiss motorways need a vignette sticker, while the small river road along the bank does not. Prices change to Swiss francs once you cross.
- Art Border · In 2007 the fence between Konstanz and Kreuzlingen was replaced by 22 steel figures of the tarot's major arcana, by the artist Johannes Dörflinger, set along the line of the border by the lake.
- Gottlieben · Jan Hus was held prisoner in the bishop's castle here in 1415, chained in a tower, before his trial in Konstanz. The village is also known for Gottlieber Hüppen, rolled wafers filled with chocolate cream.
- Stein am Rhein · The houses round the town square are covered in painted facades from the 16th century on. On 22 February 1945 American bombers mistook the Swiss town for a German target and bombed it, killing nine people.
- Hohentwiel · A fortress on an old volcanic cone. During the Thirty Years' War its commander Konrad Widerholt held it through five sieges; Napoleon's troops finally had it blown up in 1801.
- Munot, Schaffhausen · A round fortress finished in 1589 above the Rhine. A watchman still lives in its tower and rings the Munot bell every evening at nine, as the town's curfew bell once did.
- Rhine Falls · The river drops about 23 metres over a width of 150 metres, the largest waterfall by volume in Central Europe. The falls are young in geological terms, formed around 15,000 years ago when the Ice Age pushed the Rhine into a new bed.
Getting to Konstanz and getting around
- Konstanz Station · Swiss and German trains share the station, and the harbour is across the road
- Friedrichshafen Airport · On the north shore; with the car ferry it is closer than it looks on the map
- Konstanz–Meersburg car ferry · Runs around the clock, every 15 minutes by day — no booking, just queue
Cheap eats in Konstanz
The lake decides lunch: Felchen, a whitefish caught in Lake Constance, comes fried, smoked or in a bread roll, and the lakefront has more fish sandwiches than sausages. Konstanz is a border town, so Swiss visitors cross for German supermarket prices, while Germans cross the other way for chocolate. Eat on the German side; the same meal over the line in Kreuzlingen costs half as much again.
- Hafenhalle · Beer garden on the harbour; a Felchen fillet roll or a sausage about €6-10
- Brauhaus Johann Albrecht · House-brewed beer in the Niederburg, a lunch plate about €12-17
- Stephansplatz market · Bread, cheese and fruit from the stalls, a picnic for about €8-12
- Marktstätte · Cafés and ice cream on the old market square, a scoop about €2
- Strandbad Horn kiosk · Chips, ice cream and drinks on the town beach, about €3-7
- Gottlieber Hüppen · Filled wafer rolls from the factory shop in Gottlieben, a box about CHF 8-15
Museums in Konstanz
- Rosgartenmuseum · Town history in the butchers' guild house
- Archaeological State Museum · Finds from the lake villages and Roman forts of the region
- Hus House · The life and death of Jan Hus, in the house where he is said to have lodged
- Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen · Across the lake; walk through a rebuilt section of the Hindenburg
- Dornier Museum · Aircraft and seaplanes by Friedrichshafen airport
Nature and day trips near Konstanz
- Mainau gardens · Flowers in every season, a palm house and an arboretum
- Wollmatinger Ried · Reed marsh between Konstanz and Reichenau; guided bird walks
- Strandbad Horn · The town's lake beach, with lawns and a free section
- Hohentwiel · Climb the volcano to the fortress ruins for a view of the Hegau cones
- Rhine Falls · Paths down to the spray on both banks
Things to do in Konstanz with kids
- Sea Life Konstanz · Fish of the Rhine from the Alps to the sea; good on a wet day
- Affenberg Salem · Barbary macaques roaming free in a forest park on the north shore
- Pile Dwelling Museum · Stone Age houses on stilts; children like the tour through them
- Mainau butterfly house · Tropical butterflies fly free in a warm glasshouse
- The car ferry · A 20-minute crossing; children stand at the rail as the shore gets near
Where to eat in Konstanz
- Konzil restaurant · Lake fish on a terrace in the Council Building; book in summer
- Brauhaus Johann Albrecht · Brewpub dinner of schnitzel and their own beer
- Hafenhalle · Evening on the harbour with grill dishes and lake views
- Niederburg wine bars · Small wine taverns in the old lanes; walk in and find a seat
Frequently asked questions about Konstanz
What is there to see in Konstanz?
The top sights in Konstanz are Council Building, Imperia and Konstanz Minster. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Konstanz?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Konstanz without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Konstanz?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Konstanz, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The council that chose a pope.
How do you get to Konstanz and get around?
The main ways are Konstanz Station, Friedrichshafen Airport and Konstanz–Meersburg car ferry. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Konstanz, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Konstanz that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Konstanz for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.