Radolfzell am Bodensee (, ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, located at the western end ( Zeller Lake) of

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

, approximately northwest of the city of

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

(Constance). It is the third largest town, after Konstanz and

Singen Singen (; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Singe'') is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border. Location Singen is an industrial city situated in the far sout ...

, in the district of Konstanz. It is situated in the

Hegau Hegau () either refers to a region of the Duchy of Swabia or to only that part of said region which is presently located in the country of Germany. It is known for its extinct, partly eroded volcanoes, most of which are crowned with ruins of medi ...

region. The

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

of the river

Radolfzeller Aach The Radolfzeller Aach (also known as Hegauer Aach) is a right or north tributary of the Rhine in the Hegau region, southern Baden-Württemberg (Germany). It is approximately long and drains into Lower Lake Constance. Most of its waters derive f ...

is located west of Radolfzell. It is a well-known health care town (). In 1990, Radolfzell was named the Federal Environment Capital City of Germany.

History

This town developed out of a monastery founded in 826 AD as a "cell" under Bishop Radolf of

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

. The town belonged to the

Abbey of Reichenau Reichenau Abbey was a Benedictine monastery on Reichenau Island (known in Latin as Augia Dives) in southern Germany. It was founded in 724 by the itinerant Saint Pirmin, who is said to have fled Visigothic Spain ahead of the Moorish invaders, w ...

, then for a long time to the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

, and for 40 years it was a Free Imperial City. In the centre is the Gothic Cathedral (), dating from the 15th century and decorated in the

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

in the 18th. One particularly beautiful feature is the Rosary altar by the Zürn brothers and the Master of the House's Altar (1750) which contains the relics of the local Radolfzell saints Theopont, Senesius and Zeno. The is celebrated in their honour every year on the third Sunday in July, and the next day a famous Water Procession is held, as it has been every year since 1797. The citizens of the nearby village of Moos make a pilgrimage to Radolfzell in picturesquely decorated boats to fulfil an ancient oath. A notable structure in the town is the Austrian mansion in the market square, built in stages from the 17th to the 19th century, the knightly hall dating from 1626. Also of note are a number of historical Patrician houses. Radolfzell was the birthplace of

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

Martin Waldseemüller Martin Waldseemüller ( – 16 March 1520) was a German cartographer and humanist scholar. Sometimes known by the Hellenized form of his name, Hylacomylus, his work was influential among contemporary cartographers. His collaborator Matthias Ring ...

's mother. Radolfzell Untersee

Mayors

(Lord Mayor since 1975)

Twin towns – sister cities

Radolfzell am Bodensee is twinned with: *

Istres Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location I ...

, France (1974) *

Amriswil Amriswil (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Amerschwiil'') is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Arbon District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland near the La ...

, Switzerland (1999)

Notable people

Marcus Teggingeri Marcus Teggingeri (1540–1600), also known as Marcus Tettinger, was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Titular Bishop of Lydda (1568–1599) and Auxiliary Bishop of Basel (1568–1599). ''(in Latin)''Matthias Rauchmiller Matthias Rauchmiller (also known as Matthias Rauchmüller) was a painter, sculptor and ivory carver active and influential in Vienna after 1675. Born on 11 January 1645 in Radolfzell (near Lake Constance, in Germany), he died in Vienna on 5 Februa ...

(1645-1686), painter, sculptor and ivory carver *

Joseph Victor von Scheffel Joseph Victor von Scheffel (16 February 1826 – 9 April 1886) was a German poet and novelist. His novel '' Ekkehard'' (1855) became one of the most popular German novels in the 19th century. Biography He was born at Karlsruhe. His father, a reti ...

(1826–1886) poet and novelist, retired in Radolfzell. * Emil Joseph Diemer (1908–1990), chess player *

Hans Peter Haller Hans Peter Haller (26 October 1929 – 16 April 2006) was a German composer and pioneer of electroacoustic music. Life Born in Radolfzell, Haller studied church music in Heidelberg from 1947 and took composition lessons with Wolfgang Fortne ...

(1929–2006), composer and pioneer of

electroacoustic music Electroacoustic music is a Music genre, genre of Western art music in which composers use recording technology and audio signal processing to manipulate the timbres of Acoustics, acoustic sounds in the creation of pieces of music. It originated a ...

. *

Wolfgang Ruf Wolfgang Ruf (born 29 August 1941) is a German musicologist and emeritus professor. Life Born in Radolfzell, Ruf studied musicology and history at the University of Freiburg, and obtained his doctorate in 1974. Until 1985 he was a research assis ...

(born 1941), musicologist and academic * Werner Bodendorff (born 1958), musicologist and writer * Jörg Baberowski (born 1961), historian

Sport

* Josef Eichkorn (born 1956), football coach *

Patrick Baur Patrick Baur (born 3 May 1965) is a German former professional tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two pla ...

(born 1965), tennis player *

Sabine Auer Sabine Krein-Auer (born 2 October 1966) is a German former professional tennis player. She played under her maiden name Sabine Auer. Biography Born in Radolfzell, Auer competed on the professional tour in the 1980 and 1990s, reaching a best sing ...

(born 1966), tennis player * Pit Beirer (born 1972), motocross rider *

Markus Knackmuß Markus Knackmuß (born 7 June 1974 in Radolfzell, Baden-Württemberg) is a German football midfielder who last played for FC 08 Villingen. He has also played for Dynamo Dresden, FC Augsburg and SSV Jahn Regensburg Sport- und Schwimmverein J ...

(born 1974), footballer, played over 380 games * Kristof Wilke (born 1985), belt rower, team gold medallist at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

* Anna-Lena Forster (born 1995),

para-alpine skier Para-alpine skiing is an adaptation of alpine skiing for athletes with a disability. The sport evolved from the efforts of disabled veterans in Germany and Austria during and after the Second World War. The sport is governed by the International ...

Transportation

railway station is an important

junction station ''Junction station'' usually refers to a railway station situated either on or close to a rail junction, where lines to two or more destinations diverge. Many junction stations have multiple platform faces to enable trains for multiple destinatio ...

on the

High Rhine Railway The High Rhine Railway () is a Deutsche Bahn railway line from in the city of Basel to on Lake Constance. It was built by the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways as part of the Baden Mainline, which follows the Rhine upstream from Mannheim ...

( Basel Bad Bf–) and the Hegau-Ablach Valley Railway (leading to the Stahringen–Friedrichshafen railway to ). Radolfzell harbour is connected to Iznang,

Reichenau Island Reichenau Island () is an island in Lake Constance in Southern Germany. It lies almost due west of the city of Konstanz, between the Gnadensee and the Untersee, two parts of Lake Constance. With a total land surface of and a circumference o ...

and Konstanz via shipping route.

References

Towns in Baden-Württemberg Populated places on Lake Constance 826 establishments Konstanz (district) {{Konstanz-geo-stub