Bodensee One lake, three countries, countless treasures

Study Tour Overview

With shores in three countries – Germany, Switzerland and Austria – Lake Constance (in German 'Bodensee') occupies an enchanted spot in the heart of Western Europe. Beyond the southern shore, the Swiss Alps rise to glacial heights, while gentle slopes with rich vineyards and luscious orchards fringe the German northern side. The combination of outstanding natural beauty and fertile agricultural lands have given this area, inhabited since the Bronze Age, the epithet 'God's Garden'. Moreover, the lake's gateway position has led to the development of august abbeys and flourishing towns along the shoreline, which offer a fascinating heritage ranging from pre-historic times to the present. This Art Pursuits Abroad Study Tour invites you to discover the region by coach and boat, from the millennium-old monastery island of Reichenau, one of the leading cultural centres of the Carolingian Empire, to the dazzling Rococo pilgrimage church of the Birnau, from Bronze Age lake dwellings to the busy merchant towns of Konstanz, Lindau and Bregenz.

Programme Details

Day 1	Morning flight with British Airways from London Heathrow to Zurich. By private coach to Stein am Rhein, situated at the point where the Rhine leaves Lake Constance to continue its course through Switzerland. Right by the river bank lies the Monastery of St George with beautiful interiors from the eve of the Reformation, while the town's alleys and waterfront are picture-perfect. From there continue to your five-star hotel in Konstanz, a tiny German enclave on the otherwise Swiss side of the lake, a circumstance which saved it from Allied bombing during WWII.
Day 2	During the High Middle Ages Konstanz was the capital of a prince-bishopric whose rulers were frequently at loggerheads with a burgeoning town council. In the wake of the Counter-Reformation it was annexed to Habsburg Austria, before being allocated to Baden in 1806. The eponymous council (1414-18) resolved the Great Schism, replacing three competing popes with one. Visit the minster whose construction continued for 600 years, the Rosgartenmuseum occupying the town’s former guildhall, and the Church of the Trinity, an ensemble of Gothic mendicant order architecture, late mediaeval frescoes and Baroque stucco decoration. Across the lake, Meersburg replaced Konstanz as bishop’s seat after the religious conflicts of the mid-16th century, with  two castles — one ruggdely mediaeval, the other restrained Baroque — dominating the skyline.
Day 3	Überlingen's prosperity during the late Middle Ages was founded on the town's role as southern Germany's largest grain market. The huge minster (1512-63) manifests Überlingen's might: while the architecture exudes Gothic solemnity, the altars are ostentatious demonstrations of wealth and Catholic faith in the age of the Counter-Reformation. Its single most remarkable feature is the massive limewood high altar, carved in intricate detail. Our walk through the town includes the municipal museum and the simple Chapel of St Jodok (James) with primitive but moving wall paintings. After lunch, continue to the pilgrimage church of the Birnau, one of the last  and most glittering  manifestations of Rococo art.
Day 4	Excursion to the island of Reichenau. Three monasteries were in place by the end of the 9th century, but monastic life reached its zenith one hundred years later, when 700 monks contributed to the island's fame for its scholarship, literature and painting. The walls of St Georg are covered with a wonderful set of Ottonian frescoes – monumental versions of the famed Reichenau miniatures. The church of Sts Peter and Paul presents itself today in Baroque disguise, but an apse fresco of the Last Judgement — the final expression of the Reichenau school of painting — betrays the building’s mediaeval origins. At Sts Maria und Markus, the treasury includes a 5th-century ivory goblet and some priceless 1000-year-old stained glass.
Day 5	Lindau's shoreline is flanked by expensive villas, while the harbour is dominated by two lighthouses and a statue of a gigantic Lion, clearly stating Bavarian rule. Located on a major north-south trading route, Lindau has many handsome merchant mansions, most notably the Haus zum Cavazzen, now an attractive local history museum. The ancient church of St Peter is decorated with a Christological mural cycle, possibly the work of the  young Hans Holbein the Elder. In the afternoon, return to Konstanz by coach and car ferry via the church at Eriskirch, embellished with paintings, sculptures and stained-glass of the early 15th century.
Day 6	By coach to Austrian Bregenz, famous for its large floating stage behind the concert hall, used for spectacular operas in the annual summer festival. Roman Brigantium gave the lake its Latin name: Lacus Brigantinus. The capital of Voralberg has a wide range of attractions, from the foundations of Roman warehouses to contemporary art in the ultra-modern light-reflecting cube of the Kunsthaus.
Day 7	A coach excursion along the Swiss shore will take you to Landschlacht and Arbon, both with churches that house rare 14th-century wall paintings. A few kilometres south of Arbon, the monastery town of St Gallen is best known for the richly decorated library, a Unesco World Heritage Site. From there continue to Zurich airport for our British Airways flight back to London Heathrow scheduled to land at c. 6pm.