Some of the most beau­tiful pede­stri­an zones of Ger­ma­ny” are hid­den in the quar­ter of Nie­der­burg in Con­s­tance – accor­ding to the maga­zi­ne GEO SAISON. This quar­tier bet­ween the Mins­ter and the Rhi­ne belong to the oldest are­as of Con­s­tance. Ori­gi­nal­ly, Nie­der­burg was inha­bi­ted by fisher­men and craft­smen. A stroll through the pic­tures­que maze of alleys is a jour­ney to the past. In this artic­le, we will gui­de you through the beau­tiful Nie­der­burg, tell local anec­do­tes and give tips for you to contemplate.

The name of Nie­der­burg is con­nec­ted with the past – the area lied beneath the old resi­dence of bishop near the Mins­ter. The alleys decli­ne on the way towards the Rhi­ne. So for the street clea­ners – most of whom were gra­ve dig­gers in their „spa­re time” -, it was easier to car­ry the refu­se and dirt left by human and ani­mal resi­dents to the river. Today, wine­ries, wine taverns, small restau­rants, and char­ming, owner-mana­ged shops bor­der the ground flo­ors of Nie­der­burg. Lucki­ly, the lar­ge-chain super­mar­kets have no inte­rest in inva­ding the peaceful Nie­der­burg, as the retail space is too small for them.

Tho­se, who scat­ter through Nie­der­burg, might easi­ly get lost in the few streets. This is main­ly due to the fact that the alleys are cur­ved – a medieval defence method. In case of an attack the enemies could not shoot down along the enti­re street. The wall pain­tings, frame­work, vege­ta­ti­on, and the archi­tec­tu­re of the wealt­hy patri­ci­an hou­ses estab­lish the charm of Nie­der­burg. The­r­e­fo­re, it is worth loo­king up and taking the time to obser­ve Nie­der­burg in its com­ple­te height.

Halley’s Comet in Constance’s Niederburg

Every 75,3 years, Halley’s Comet appears near the Earth’s sur­face and it’s one of the most known comets. Even the Baby­lo­n­ers docu­men­ted the lumi­nous comet in their cun­ei­form script. In 1910, the comet glo­wed over Euro­pe and left such a deep impres­si­on, which also eter­nis­ed in Nie­der­burg. Tho­se start­ing the tour in the Insel­gas­se, can find on the left – at the very top, beneath the eaves of the house – a wall pain­ting, which illus­tra­tes the comet. It was atta­ched the­re in 1911.

Hunch­ba­cked and swine’s back – Wen­del­gard of Meers­burg in Constance

If you walk from the pain­ting of Halley’s Comet to the cor­ner of Insel­gas­se / Brü­cken­gas­se – to the cent­re of Nie­der­burg, you will find the restau­rant „Wen­del­gard”, which offers a civic cui­sine. Accor­ding to the legend, the eponym was hunch­ba­cked – like a back of a swi­ne. She lived in Meers­burg, on the oppo­si­te side of the lake when loo­king from Con­s­tance, and she was shun­ned by others. Even when she offe­red the muni­ci­pal coun­cil the Halt­nau – a very big and lucra­ti­ve wine-gro­wing estate -, the coun­cil­men decli­ned. Wen­del­gard came to the coun­cil­men of Con­s­tance: She would make the estate to the infir­ma­ry trust of Spi­tal­kel­le­rei of Con­s­tance, if the coun­cil­men took her for a dri­ve with the coach every Sun­day and ate with every day for her the rest of her life. The men of Con­s­tance did­n’t hesi­ta­te long and agreed. Also the „Wen­del­gard­weg” was named after this sto­ry. It criss-cros­ses around the famous lido of Con­s­tance „Hörn­le” and offers a won­derful view of the lake, also during the cold season.

Tre­ats of Con­s­tance – from Spätz­le to Spätburgunder

The cui­sine of Con­s­tance is mark­ed through the rich histo­ry of the city – and the fre­quent chan­ge of the occu­pants. The­re are influen­ces of the Swa­bi­an, Alsa­ti­an, Swiss and French cui­sines in the pots. Typi­cal for Con­s­tance is the Feld­sa­latt von der Rei­chen­au (field salad of Rei­chen­au) with crou­tons, the roast sadd­le of ven­i­son of Baden and the perch-fish dish. Käse­spätz­le, Maul­ta­schen and Spätz­le are com­bi­ned with pork medal­li­ons and dome­stic mush­rooms. Der schwä­bi­sche Kar­tof­fel­sa­lat (the Swa­bi­an pota­toe salad) is a typi­cal side dish. Die Dün­ne­le (yeast dough) and Flamm­ku­chen (flour dough) are often descri­bed as „piz­za of Con­s­tance” and are tra­di­tio­nal­ly coa­ted with oni­on, bacon or pota­toes. The wines of Con­s­tance or from the sur­roun­ding area are offe­red with the dis­hes. Der Spät­bur­gun­der (Pinot Noir) is domic­i­led by the Lake Con­s­tance sin­ce 884. If you would rather drink white wine, you will be hap­py with the Mül­ler-Thur­gau. The­re is no other place whe­re the deli­ca­te­ly frui­ty wine pro­sper more than by Lake Con­s­tance with its spe­cial cli­ma­tic and geo­lo­gi­cal requi­re­ments. Recom­men­da­ble are also the Weiß- and Grau­bur­gun­der (Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris), which are pro­du­ced around the lake. The Spi­tal­kel­le­rei of Con­s­tance offers wine­tastings, the wine store „Franz Fritz” invi­tes you to its cosy wine tavern.

Gas­sen­frei­tag – fes­ti­val bet­ween the hou­ses from May till October

The Gas­sen­frei­tag in Con­s­tance is a popu­lar venue of the locals. Every first Fri­day of each month from May till Octo­ber, stores, pri­va­te per­sons and restau­ra­teurs open their doors and invi­te to enjoy the music, drinks and snacks until 22 o’clock. The peo­p­le cele­bra­te tog­e­ther and you can always meet acquain­tances and fri­ends on Gas­sen­frei­tag – as well as new acquain­tances on top of that.

Tip: city walk through Niederburg

It is high­ly recom­men­da­ble explo­ring Nie­der­burg on a gui­ded tour. Espe­ci­al­ly for groups , we recom­mend the gui­des Jens Weber and Marc Schloß­arek. For indi­vi­du­als, we recom­mend the tour cal­led „Alt­stadt­rund­gang mal anders” (A Dif­fe­rent Kind of Old Town Tour). We hope that you have a gre­at time in Nie­der­burg of Con­s­tance und are loo­king for­ward to wel­co­me you to us. Pho­to source: Ger­hard Gie­be­nerKon­stanz – Alt­stadt (12)CC BY 2.0Link