A 2 Land: Vorarlberg Altitude: 395m/1,296ft Population: 27,000 Bregenz, the capital of Vorarlberg, lies on the southeastern shores of Lake Constance at the foot of the Pfänder, which links up with the Bregenzer Wald. The town extends southwards as far as the Bregenzer Ache, and is divided into the Lower and Upper Towns (Unterstadt and Oberstadt). Bregenz hosts festivals and has numerous cultural institutions. On the site of a Bronze Age settlement the Celts built a fortress which was conquered by the Romans in 15 BC The Roman fort of Brigantium developed into an important trading post. Alemannic tribes settled here from AD 450. After being Christianized by Gaelic monks beyond the eighth C., the town became the seat of the Counts of Bregenz. Following an eventful history it formed part of Bavaria between 1805-14. In 1919 Bregenz was made the capital of Vorarlberg.
Amongst the highlights of the Bregenz Lake District are a leisure park, music pavilion, beach bathing pools, stadium and tennis hall. The District also offers excellent sports and yachting opportunities.
Standing at a height of 3491 feet is the Pfander peak which features beautiful views over the Alps and Lake Constance. Pfander is especially popular with winter sport enthusiasts.
The once fortified old Bregenz Upper Town occupies the site of the Celtic and later walled Late Roman town of Brigantium. The streets have preserved their old-world character, and parts of the 13th C. walls remain.
This annual four-week festival runs from mid-July to mid-August and includes operas, orchestral and chamber concerts, choir and dance recitals and theater performances. The annual opera takes place on a theater stage that floats off the shores of Lake Constance.
To the southwest of the Bregenz Upper Town, on the far side of the Thalbach, lies the Capuchin Monastery and Church dated 1636, with the Chapel of St Joseph which was added in the 18th C.; the whole complex is encircled by a wall.
South of Bregenz rises the Gebhardsberg (600m/1,970ft; path through forests) with the ruins of Burg Hohenbregenz which was destroyed by the Swedes in 1647, and an 18th C. pilgrimage chapel with frescos added about 1900. From the Burgrestaurant there are magnificent views of the town, the lake and the Rhine valley. A climb southwards along the "Ferdinand-Kinz-Weg" is worthwhile.
The Lower Town is the newer part of Bregenz, with the Kornmarktplatz as its center. On the east side of the square the former "Kornmarkthaus" (1838) now houses the theater.
To the west of Bregenz, near Lake Constance, stands the Cistercian monastery of Mehrerau, founded at the end of the 11th C. and destroyed several times since, together with a Neo- Romanesque church of 1859 (remodelled in modern style in 1961-64).
At a height of 424m/1,391ft on a hill south of the Bregenz Upper Town stands the parish church of St Gallus, a simple Gothic building (14th and 15th C., rebuilt about 1738 by F. A. Beer), with Late Baroque and Roccoco interior decoration. The choir-stalls are from Mehrerau. On the high altar are statues of St Gallus, St Peter, St Ulrich and St Paul, and in the side chapel that of St Nicolas, patron saint of those sailing on Lake Constance.
The massive St Martin's Tower (Martinsturm) (1599-1602; panoramic view) is Bregenz's landmark. On the upper floor is housed the Heimatsmuseum (local museum) and on the lower floor St Martin's Chapel (Martins- kapelle).
A short way to the northeast of Bregenz's Kornmarktplatz, on Kornmarktstrasse, stands the little round chapel of St Nepomuk (18th C., Roccoco; now the Hungarian Church), with the Kornmesser inn nearby (1720).
A little to the southeast of the parish church of St Gallus in Bregenz will be found the Dominican convent of Thalbach (1609-77) with its lovely church.
In Bregenz's Rathausstrasse are the New Town Hall (1686) and the adjoining Lake Chapel of St George which was endowed in 1408 in memory of the victory over the peasants in the Appenzell War (1403-08), and rebuilt in 1698. Passing along Maurachsgasse we come to the higgledy-piggledy old Upper Town built on varying levels.
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Bregenz Lake District
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