7 Best Sights in Lindau, The Bodensee

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We've compiled the best of the best in Lindau - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.

Altes Rathaus

The Old Town Hall is the finest of Lindau's handsome historic buildings. It was constructed between 1422 and 1436 in the midst of a vineyard and given a Renaissance face-lift 150 years later, though the original stepped gables remain. Emperor Maximilian I held an imperial diet (deliberation) here in 1496; a fresco on the south facade depicts the scene. The building retains city government functions, thus its interior is closed to the public.

Der Bayerische Löwe

A proud symbol of Bavaria, the lion is Lindau's most striking landmark. Carved from Bavarian marble and standing 20 feet high, the lion stares out across the lake from a massive plinth.

Römerschanze, Lindau, 88131, Germany

Mangturm

At the harbor's inner edge, across the water from the Neuer Leuchtturm, stands this 13th-century former lighthouse, one of the lake's oldest. After a lightning strike in the 1970s, the roof tiles were replaced, giving the tower the bright top it now bears. The interior of the tower can be visited as part of organized storytelling events—contact Lindau Tourist-Information.

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Marktplatz

St. Stephen church, Marketplatz, Lindau, The Bodensee, Germany, Europe.
(c) Faaabi | Dreamstime.com

Lindau's market square is lined by a series of sturdy and attractive old buildings. The Gothic Stephanskirche (St. Stephen's Church) is simple and sparsely decorated, as befits a Lutheran place of worship. It dates to the late 12th century but went through numerous transformations. One of its special features is the green-hue stucco ornamentation on the ceiling, which immediately attracts the eye toward the heavens. In contrast, the Catholic Münster Unserer Lieben Frau (St. Mary's Church), which stands right next to the Stephanskirche, is exuberantly baroque.

Neuer Leuchtturm

Germany's southernmost lighthouse stands sentinel with the Bavarian Lion across the inner harbor's passageway. A viewing platform at the top is open in good weather from April until the end of September. Climb the 139 steps for views over the harbor.

Hafeneinfahrt, Lindau, 88131, Germany
Sight Details
Rate Includes: €2.10, Closed Oct.–Mar.

Schloss Montfort

Twelve km (7½ miles) west of Lindau (about midway between Lindau and Friedrichshafen) is the small, pretty town of Langenargen, famous for the region's most unusual castle, Schloss Montfort. Named for the original owners, the counts of Montfort-Werdenberg, this structure was a conventional medieval fortification until the 19th century, when it was rebuilt in pseudo-Moorish style by its new owner, King Wilhelm I of Württemberg. If you can, see it from a passenger ship on the lake; the castle is especially memorable in the early morning or late afternoon. The castle houses a restaurant, open for dinner from Tuesday to Sunday, April through October, and on weekends during the colder months. The restaurant is also open for Sunday brunch year-round (10–2, all-you-can-eat German buffet-style brunch). A wine bar features in the atmospheric cellar, open Friday nights. You can also climb the wooden spiral staircase to the top of the tower for views across the lake to Switzerland, Austria, and over the rolling German countryside.

Untere Seestr. 3, Langenargen, 88085, Germany
07543-912–712
Sight Details
Rate Includes: Tower €2, Tower closed Nov.–Feb.

Wasserburg

Inn River, Church, Wasserburg am Inn, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
PeJo / Shutterstock

Six kilometers (4 miles) west of Lindau lies Wasserburg, whose name means "water castle," a description of what this enchanting island town once was—a fortress. It was built by the St. Gallen monastery in 924, and the owners, the counts of Montfort zu Tettnang, sold it to the Fugger family of Augsburg. The Fuggers couldn't afford to maintain the drawbridge that connected the castle with the shore and instead built a causeway. In the 18th century, the castle passed into the hands of the Hapsburgs, and in 1805 the Bavarian government took it over. Wasserburg has some of the most photographed sights of the Bodensee: the yellow, stair-gabled presbytery; the fishermen's St. Georg Kirche, with its onion dome; and the little Malhaus museum, with the castle, Schloss Wasserburg (now a luxury hotel), in the background.

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