Bregenz (lat. Brigantium) is the capital of the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and the district capital of the Bregenz district. The city has the most important Austrian port of Lake Constance, is a railway junction and a sports and cultural center. In terms of its population, Bregenz is the third largest city in Vorarlberg after Dornbirn and Feldkirch, but the agglomeration is more than twice the size of the city itself.
Bregenz has a cultural offer that is far above average for cities of this size. The largest cultural event is the Bregenz Festival.
Festivals
Bregenz Festival
The Bregenz Festival is an
internationally recognized cultural festival and attracts well over
100,000 people to Bregenz (2011: 166,453) every year with a budget
of around 20 million euros. The program changes every two years and
always lasts from July to August. In addition to playing on the lake
on the lake stage, orchestral concerts or operas are played in the
adjacent festival hall. With crossculture, there is also a
children's and youth program during and before the start of the
festival.
The stage is the largest floating stage in the
world with an audience capacity of around 7,000.
Jazz
festival
The Bregenz Jazz Festival has taken place every June on
Kornmarktplatz since 2014, after the New Orleans Festival, which
took place in early summer for several days in early summer from
1999 to 2013, was no longer supported by the initiator Markus
Linder. In addition to the name change, there was also a change in
musical genre from blues to jazz. The location and timing remained
roughly the same.
Bregenz spring
The Bregenz Spring is a
dance festival that has been taking place in the Festspielhaus every
year between March and May since 1987. Dance ensembles from all over
the world present their new productions, including Austrian
premieres. With a budget of around 500,000 euros and up to 10,000
visitors, the Bregenz Spring is one of the most important dance
festivals in Austria. The artistic director was Wolfgang Fetz until
the end of 2016. Until 2016 it was an event of the Bregenz Art
Association, since the Bregenz Spring 2017 the organization has been
with the culture department of the city of Bregenz, and since 2018
also the artistic director. The Bregenz Spring 2020 had to be
canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria.
Theatre
Vorarlberg State Theater
Located in the middle of the “Bregenz
Culture Mile”, the Vorarlberg State Theater in the “Theater am
Kornmarkt” has made a name for itself for the interpretation of
classics as well as for premieres of modern plays.
Theater
cosmos
The aim of the contemporary theater Kosmos is to inspire
young people for theatrical art.
Museums
Vorarlberg museum
The vorarlberg museum located on the Kornmarkt, until 2011 the
“Vorarlberger Landesmuseum”, shows collections on the Roman history
of the region, on the art and culture of Vorarlberg, as well as
thematic special exhibitions. The new building designed by the
architects Andreas Cukrowicz and Anton Nachbaur was opened in June
2013. The seamlessly cast facades by the Bolzano artist Manfred
Alois Mayr show a structure made from casts of PET bottle bottoms.
Wettingen-Mehrerau Territorial Abbey
The showpiece of the
Cistercian Abbey Wettingen-Mehrerau is the old library. Chalices,
vestments, altarpieces and other treasures are in the possession of
the monks.
Contemporary fine arts
Kunsthaus Bregenz (KUB)
Since it opened in 1997, the Kunsthaus Bregenz has been one of the
most important museums for contemporary art in German-speaking
countries. Works by well-known artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and
Jeff Koons are shown.
The architect Peter Zumthor won the Mies
van der Rohe Prize for Architecture in 1998 with the KUB project.
Artist house Bregenz
In the Künstlerhaus Bregenz (“Palais
Thurn und Taxis”), changing exhibitions of contemporary art by
international and Austrian artists can be seen.
Magazine 4
The magazine 4 is the former warehouse "Magazin 4" of the Pircher
company and today the official building of the state capital
Bregenz. In addition to the offices of the Culture Department, the
building also houses event rooms that are used or rented by the
city. Until the end of 2016 it was the home of the “Magazin4-Bregenz
Art Association”. Among other things, he organized exhibitions and
events in the building.
Buildings
State Library
Vorarlberg's largest library is housed in a baroque church or a
former monastery. The renovated domed hall also serves as an event
location for B. for readings.
Country house Bregenz
The
official building of the Vorarlberg state government was built by
Wilhelm Holzbauer from 1973 to 1980.
Martinsturm
The
Martinsturm, a former granary in the first courtyard of the Counts
of Bregenz, was built in 1601 as a tower with a loggia with three
arched arcades each on pillars and stone parapets in the northeast
corner of the curtain wall. It is crowned by a high curved onion
dome with a lantern by Benedetto Prato. It is now one of the
landmarks of the city of Bregenz.
Pfänderbahn valley station
For cable car stations, planned in 1926 by the architect Willibald Braun, there were no models at that time.
Other structures
Old Town Hall: Built in 1662 by Michael Kuen, this
free-standing building with a high pointed gable housed the town
hall from the 17th to the 19th century.
Benger area: The factory
building with its own administration wing was planned in 1892 by the
architects Wittmann und Stahl from Stuttgart and the weaving section
was designed by the Bregenz architect Otto Mallaun. This hosiery
production facility is an iron construction with a clinker brick
facade, with numerous neo-Gothic details such as a crossed gable,
tower and bay window. This is where the name “industrial lock” comes
from.
Hohenbregenz Castle
Deuringschlössle: This building has
a core from the 14th or 15th century and was essentially erected in
its current form in the second half of the 17th century.
Fischersteg: In the 1920s, it was possible to take a seaplane tour
around Lake Constance from here. In the meantime the Fischersteg
serves mainly as a viewing platform and in the summer months (May -
September) as an open-air bar when the weather is nice.
Green
House: Today this is the seat of the Environmental Institute in
Montfortstrasse. This building by Willibald Braun was built in
1925/1926. In the 1920s, classicist architectural elements were
still used in a greatly simplified form, the result is
representative architecture that has been reduced to objectivity.
Traces of expressionism (arcades) and homeland security architecture
(oriel turrets) have also been preserved on this building.
"Mili"
(former military baths): The operators of this historic bathing
establishment are the Bregenz municipal utilities. It is a U-shaped
wooden pile structure that lies on the Bregenz pipeline.
Post
office: A striking building from the Austro-Hungarian era, built in
1895 by Friedrich Setz. It shows monumental neo-renaissance forms, a
domed central risalit with aedicula and ridge lattice as well as
presented Ionic columns with crowning allegorical figures of
traffic. The post office is in the immediate vicinity of the
Kunsthaus and the State Theater.
Roman villa (ruin): The remains
of a Roman villa from the 1st to 3rd centuries AD were uncovered in
1990 near the city tunnel.
Lake promenade with pier: The lake
promenade leads from the ship harbor past the boat harbor to the
floating stage with the festival and congress hall.
Sports house:
The sports house of the tourist office with an attached restaurant
was integrated into the lake shore landscape and built in the lake
facilities in 1906 by the architect Otto Mallaun. Sports houses of
this type were a meeting place for society, hence the villa and
country house character.
Textilhaus Holzner: Built in
Kaiserstraße by Klaus Ströbele in 1935/1936. While in the 1930s the
Vorarlberg builders preferred at least allusions to down-to-earth
architecture, here the builder gave his architect the opportunity
for a decidedly international architecture.
The Achsiedlung is a
satellite town along the Bregenzer Ach on the outskirts of Bregenz.
The residential complex - consisting of around 50 buildings - is
still one of the largest settlement projects in the state of
Vorarlberg.
Catholic churches
The parish
church of Bregenz-St. Gallus was originally a Romanesque complex and
was built in the Gothic style after a fire in 1477. In 1737 it was
rebuilt in the Baroque style by Franz Anton Beer - with baroque
choir stalls by Johann Joseph Christian from the former monastery
church in Mehrerau.
Parish Church of Bregenz-Herz Jesu (1908)
The parish church of Bregenz-Mariahilf in the Rieden-Vorloster
district was built between 1925 and 1937 as a church for heroes'
thanksgiving during the First World War, based on plans by Clemens
Holzmeister. The connection of functional buildings (parish and
parish hall) and the sacred building with a forecourt to form a
complex is remarkable.
The parish church of Bregenz-St. Gebhard
in Rieden pre-monastery was built from 1956 to 1961.
The parish
church of Bregenz-St. Columban (1966) is a modern church building on
Weidachstrasse.
The parish church of Bregenz-Fluh in Fluh is also
a pilgrimage church.
The monastery church of Mehrerau.
The
Capuchin church of the former Capuchin monastery from 1636 was
expanded to include a Joseph chapel in the 18th century.
The
Johannes Nepomuk Chapel was built in 1757 with the help of Johann
Michael Beer von Bildstein. The restored baroque central building
with dome houses a richly decorated high altar.
The chapel on
Gebhardsberg and today's pilgrimage church of St. Gebhard and Georg
in the former castle goes back to a hermitage founded there in 1720.
The current building was built in 1791 after a fire. The painting
with scenes from the life of St. Gebhard dates from 1895.
The Chapel of St. Martin was donated by Count Wilhelm III in
1362. von Montfort on the upper floor of the Martinsturm.
The
lake chapel was built in 1445 to commemorate the victory over the
Appenzeller and was rebuilt by Kaspar Held in the Baroque style in
1698/1699 according to plans by Christian Thumb and is consecrated
to St. George and Our Lady. A special feature is the Renaissance
high altar (1615) by Esaias Gruber from the former Hofen / Lochau
palace chapel.
The infirmary chapel of Our Lady was donated in
1400 by Count Hugo von Montfort for the infirmary. From 1744 to 1746
the Gothic chapel was redesigned in Baroque style.
Protestant
churches
The Evangelical Kreuzkirche am Ölrain in
Kosmus-Jenny-Straße was built in the years 1862–1864 according to
plans by Carl Leins in neo-Gothic style. She owns a Rieger organ
(1981). During the construction, remains of Roman walls were
discovered, some of which are included in the cemetery wall. The
building is used by the Evangelical Churches A. and H. B.
The
Methodist Church is housed in a villa from the turn of the century
and an attached community center at Blumenstrasse 5.
Marienberg Monastery (Villa Raczyński): In 1877 the
Polish Count Raczyński had this villa built for his wife on the
north-western slope of the Gebhardsberg. The castle villa in
neo-baroque style (by Stefan Dragl) crowns the gently sloping park
landscape. Since 1904 the villa has housed a Dominican convent and
school.
Riedenburg Monastery: The monastery was built by Hans
Sutter between 1862 and 1865. The exterior is structured by strong
buttresses. The nave and the narrow transept have a shared gable
roof. The private girls' secondary school Sacré Coeur of the
Catholic order of sisters Sacré-Coeur is located on the grounds of
the Riedenburg Abbey.
Wettingen-Mehrerau Monastery
This
strictly symmetrical construction of the Mehrerau sanatorium
(1922/1923) with a two-story loggia and archial entrance staircase
with modest dimensions anticipates the representative style of
Clemens Holzmeister, which he later developed for the government
buildings in Ankara.
Thalbach Monastery, "The Work"
In
1436 a community of Franciscan women was founded in the clusa
Thalbach at the foot of the Gebhardsberg.
In 1485 the first
chapel in the Thalbachklause was inaugurated. After the first new
building, Thalbach was given all the rights of a monastery in 1575.
For centuries the sisters from Thalbach were known for their
exemplary religious life: Thalbach Franciscan Sisters were called to
revive decayed or extinct monasteries (e.g. Wonnenstein Monastery in
1584 and Grimmenstein Monastery in Appenzell) or to lead other
monasteries (Sipplingen and Möggingen) to be.
When an
epidemic raged in the Benedictine monastery Mehrerau (since 1854
Cistercians) in 1592, the Thalbach sisters were asked to take care
of the monastery kitchen. The plague has been defeated. As a thank
you gift in 1592 the Franciscan Sisters received a precious statue
of the Virgin Mary of the Sedes Sapientiae type (“Seat of Wisdom”).
In 1609/1910 the monastery church was rebuilt by Giovanni Prato. In
1675 a new monastery was built by the baroque master builders
Michael Thumb from Bezau and Michael Kuen from Bregenz. In 1782 the
Thalbach monastery was abolished by Emperor Joseph II.
In
1796 the Dominicans of Hirschberg-Hirschtal / Kennelbach acquired
the orphaned Thalbach monastery from the city of Bregenz. In 1797
the valuable statue of the Virgin Mary, which had been kept by the
Bregenz citizen Karg, was returned to the monastery church. The work
of the Dominican women as a contemplative community and at the same
time in the education and training of girls was significant for
Bregenz and the surrounding area.
In 1983 the clerical family
"Das Werk" took over the Thalbach monastery at the request of the
Dominican Sisters.
The memorial
"Resistance in Vorarlberg 1938–1945" by Nataša Sienčnik has been
commemorating about 100 people who opposed National Socialism,
deserted or helped refugees since November 2015 on Sparkassenplatz
with a three-line ad.
Anton Schneider Monument, Seestrasse: The
portrait sculpture of the commander of the popular uprising of 1809
was created in bronze by Georg Matt in 1910.
Hugo-Von-Montfort-Brunnen: Fountain depicting the minstrel Hugo von
Montfort (* 1357 in Bregenz) in bronze by Emil Gehrer.
Shadow
square fountain: The shadow square is located 100 meters from
downtown Bregenz, at the end of Maurachgasse. It got its name
because of the light at night, where the fountain is always in the
shade.
Mushroom kiosk
Near the port is one of the last eight copies
of a mushroom kiosk, which is also called "milk mushroom", the
latter because you can buy various milk drinks there.
Swimming, skating, jogging and cycling are possible along Lake
Constance in summer and ice skating in winter. The conglomerate rock
band under the Gebhardsberg has been developed as a climbing garden
since the 1980s and is included in the Vorarlberg climbing guide.
The Pfänder is used as a hiking area in summer and as a small
ski and toboggan area in winter.
Every year in October the
marathon of the 3 countries on Lake Constance takes place in
Bregenz. The route leads through the three countries bordering Lake
Constance, Germany, Austria and Switzerland and runs along the
majority of the distance along Lake Constance, the destination is in
Bregenz.
In the Bundesliga, Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz achieved 5th
place in the 2003/2004 season, the best placement that a Vorarlberg
soccer club had ever achieved in this league. In 2005 the heavily
indebted association had to file for bankruptcy. The successor club
of the same name, Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, also plays in the
Bodenseestadion, which is now called the "Casinostadion" due to the
sponsorship agreement with Casinos Austria.
The Lake
Constance Cup has been held annually in Bregenz for young football
teams in the U9 to U19 age groups since 2014. During the Whitsun
weekend, up to 100 teams with over 1700 players from up to eight
countries meet in this competition.
In 1946, the handball
club Bregenz Handball (then SC Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz) was founded as
a section of SC Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz. Bregenz Handball has won the
Austrian Championship in the Handball League Austria nine times and
is therefore the record champion. Bregenz Handball also won the
Austrian Cup four times and made it into the group stage of the EHF
Champions League several times.
Bregenz military bathing establishment
The Bregenz military
bathing facility on Reichsstrasse (popularly known as “Mili”) was
built in 1825 to train the soldiers of the nearby Bilgeri barracks.
It is a single-story pile structure connected to the bank by a
wooden walkway and includes changing rooms, a two-story sundeck and
ladders into the water. Since the end of the Second World War, the
bathing establishment has been operated by the city of Bregenz as a
public outdoor pool.
Bregenz beach and indoor swimming pool
The first lido in Bregenz was opened in 1935 after there were
already a few interim outdoor pools. Prior to a referendum, the
demolition of the old lido, the old floating stage and the sports
hall began in 1978 and a new lido with an adjoining indoor pool was
built.
In the Am Brand parcel in the upper town of
Bregenz, a sulfur bath was used from 1790 to 1806, but it was only
of regional importance and is said to have had little healing
effect. The nearby Gasthof Schiff also had a small medicinal bath.
See also the therapeutic bath in the Mehrerau: Heilbad Mehrerau
and the Territorial Abbey of Wettingen-Mehrerau.
Site design
As part of the European “Entente Florale Europe” competition,
Bregenz was awarded a silver medal in the city category in 1996.
The place name is traced back to Celtic or Ligurian * brigant- 'outstanding'. It is linguistically identical to place names such as Brienz BE and Brienz / Brinzauls (Switzerland), Brianza (Northern Italy), Bragança (Portugal) and Briançon (France). The earliest known evidence for the name of today's Bregenz is Βριγάντιον (Brigántion) and comes from the years around the turn of the century. Although the current city is only attested from the High Middle Ages, the name was borrowed into Alemannic many centuries earlier, which is reflected in the shift in the emphasis from the second to the first syllable, the sound shift from / t / to / ts / and in the primary umlaut from / a / to / e / before / i / in the following syllable.
The
first settlements in the area of today's Bregenz emerged around
1500 BC. This is documented by settlement finds from the Early
Bronze Age at the foot of the Gebhardsberg. During the Celtic times
(from around 500 BC) Bregenz was one of the most heavily fortified
places (oppidum) in the region. At that time, the Brigantier Celtic
tribe settled in Vorarlberg. A testimony to Celtic culture is the
Epona relief found in Bregenz (Epona or Rhiannon), which, however,
dates from Roman times.
In 15 BC The Romans conquered the
Vorarlberg area for Emperor Augustus and established the city of
Brigantium there - a Roman civil city with a forum, temple district,
market halls, basilica, etc. From this phase of the place there are
extensive archaeological remains, among others. Mosaics, preserved.
In today's Protestant cemetery, a few remains of the walls of the
imperial thermal baths are visible over the day. Brigantium quickly
grew into a settlement and was also of military importance. The
prefect of the Roman Lake Constance fleet had its seat there. A road
connected Brigantium via Cambodunum (Kempten im Allgäu) with Augusta
Vindelicorum (Augsburg).
Probably in 233 and 259/260 AD
Brigantium was destroyed by invading Alemanni, but was rebuilt by
the Roman-Celtic population; the naturally better protected upper
town has now been expanded and fortified like a fort. The territory
of the late antique brigantium included all of the land west of the
Arlberg to Lake Constance and adjacent areas in the north. The
fortress remained militarily important after 300 AD and, like Arbor
Felix, Constantia and Tasgaetium, belonged to a chain of forts that
secured the Roman border on the Rhine and Lake Constance. Like Arbor
Felix, it was mentioned in the Tabula Peutingeriana, a late Roman
map.
The Roman Emperor Gratian visited the city in 377. At
least until about 410 AD, a Roman navy was stationed in Brigantium.
During construction work on the pedestrian passage in the area of
the Roman port (Leutbühel), remains of the late Roman port
facility were discovered in 1969.
The Alemanni settled the
area around Brigantium from around 470 AD. Between the years 610 and
612 the Irish Scottish missionaries Columban and Gallus worked in
the Bregenz area.
The plans of excavations from Roman times
from the last 150 years were recorded in the digital city map by
June 2017 and made freely accessible on the Internet. Archaeological
excavations in 2013 and 2019 found walls at the foot of the upper
town, which, according to the archaeologists involved, suggest a
Roman theater.
The upper town (old town) lies
within the roughly rectangular wall area of the town walls from
the 13th to the 16th century, most of which have been preserved.
Around 1220 three parallel alleys were laid out with about 57
farmsteads of equal size, each with two ares.
The first urban
expansion down the hill by the Maurach was completed at the end of
the 13th century. At its foot towards the lake, Kaiserstraße was
expanded in 1363.
In 1330, Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian
granted the citizens of Bregenz the right to hold a weekly market
every Monday.
In 1404 and 1445 the Bregenz suburb was
destroyed in the Appenzell Wars and besieged for several months in
the winter of 1407/1408 during the Battle of Bregenz. In 1451 the
Princely House of Habsburg bought half of the County of Bregenz with
the city of Bregenz. In 1484 the expansion of Kirchstrasse was
completed and at the end of the 15th century the market at Leutbühel
gained more weight than the upper town.
After the most
important noble family of the Lake Constance area, the Bregenz
branch of the Counts of Montfort, died out, the whole of Bregenz
became part of Front Austria in the Archduchy of Austria in 1523.
On January 4, 1647, Bregenz was captured by the united armies of
Sweden and France under Field Marshal Carl Gustav Wrangel during the
Thirty Years' War. Before the Swedes withdrew again towards the end
of the war in 1647, they blew up Hohenbregenz Castle on Gebhardsberg
(see Naval Warfare on Lake Constance 1632–1648).
From 1650 to
1652 the Kornmarkt was founded in Bregenz, which was paved from 1665
to 1667 and gained in importance.
In 1704 attacks by the
French on the Klause were repulsed. In 1753 an administration in
Upper Austria was established with its seat in Konstanz, which
existed until 1759. From 1759 to 1803 the responsibility for
Vorarlberg, Swabia and Breisgau lay in Freiburg im Breisgau. Bregenz
became a Habsburg country town.
In 1805 Bregenz became part
of the Kingdom of Bavaria. In 1809, around 3,000 Vorarlberg freedom
fighters were set up under the supreme command of High Commissioner
Anton Schneider.
In the course of the following clashes
against Bavarian and French troops, the Vorarlberg riflemen were
able to record the greatest success on May 29, 1809 in Klien (near
Hohenems). After the defeat of the Austrian troops by Napoleon in
July at Wagram, most of the Vorarlbergers gave up the fight. Only a
few Oberlanders (Klostertaler and Montafoner) continued to resist
the advancing French and Bavarian troops under Riedmiller's command
- until they too fled to Tyrol in August.
Anton Schneider was
arrested, and Vorarlberg received a strong Bavarian occupation.
Under the government of the Count of Montgelas, which was under
French influence, the city got a modern administrative structure. In
1814, under the influence of the Congress of Vienna, Bavaria
renounced the front of Austria, which meant that the rulers in front
of the Arlberg (Vorarlberg), together with the city of Bregenz and
Tyrol, fell back to the Austrian Empire.
The slopes behind
the upper town include with the residences Lößler, Schedler,
Mildenberg and Riedenburg were originally Counts of Montforts fiefs
with wine and fruit growing and later partly belonged to the
Mehrerau monastery.
For a long time the city was only
accessible from the north through the hermitage. The widening of the
Reichsstraße took place in 1831/1832 by Alois von Negrelli. A new
connecting axis was created in 1849 by building the Römerstrasse and
Arlbergstrasse. In 1861 Vorarlberg received its own state parliament
with its seat in Bregenz. At the end of the 19th century the area
between Belruptstrasse and Kornmarktstrasse was laid out like a
grid.
Until the First World War,
Bregenz was a garrison of the k.u.k. Austro-Hungarian Army, in 1914
the staff and the 1st Battalion of the Salzburg Infantry Regiment
"Archduke Rainer" No. 59 were located here.
In 1918, now part
of the Republic of German Austria, later Austria, the Vorarlberg
administration separated from that of Tyrol, and Vorarlberg became a
federal state with the regional government in Bregenz.
On May
11, 1919, a referendum took place in Vorarlberg - it was about the
start of negotiations with Switzerland about the country's accession
to the Confederation: 80% of Vorarlberg's eligible voters were in
favor of such negotiations, and in Bregenz 1,701 in favor and 1,453
against it.
From 1938 the city was part of the new Ostmark.
The area was later renamed "Donau- und Alpengaue" in the Greater
German Empire. Bregenz became a district town in the Reichsgau
Tirol-Vorarlberg and district leader was Hans Dietrich.
In
the years 1939 to 1941, more than 2,000 South Tyroleans moved into
the South Tyrolean settlement.
Bregenz Jews were also
affected by persecution and deportations. On the day of the
“annexation” to the German Reich, a doctor from Bregenz demanded in
the Vorarlberger Tagblatt that the “exterminators of the German
people be stamped out”. Especially from the spring of 1942 onwards
there were waves of persecution.
On April 29, 1945, French
troops crossed the Vorarlberg border at Lochau and Hohenweiler and
on May 1, Bregenz was conquered, with the city being partially
destroyed. From 1945 to 1955, Bregenz was part of the French
occupation zone, and reconstruction in the state of Vorarlberg took
place. With the occupation, a state government and a mayor were
appointed.
In the post-war period, the use of the level of
the Feldmoos and the Weidach, located under the Arlberg-,
Josef-Huter- and Kennelbacherstrasse, for residential buildings
began.
In 1984, on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of
the uprising year 1809, an Andreas Hofer memorial was opened in the
South Tyrolean settlement.
The Johann-August-Malin-Gesellschaft, founded in 1982 as the
“Historical Association for Vorarlberg”, is dedicated to researching
contemporary history, especially anti-Semitism, Austrofascism and
National Socialism and the resistance to it. In 2011, their chairman
Werner Bundschuh and the then Deputy Mayor of Bregenz, Gernot
Kiermayr (Greens), demanded the erection of a memorial for Wehrmacht
deserters in Bregenz. At that time, only one large project for a
deserter memorial in Vienna was conceived in Austria. In November
2014, the city of Bregenz announced a two-phase competition. From
October to December 2015, a program of events accompanied the
opening of the memorial by Nataša Sienčnik on November 14, 2015 on
Sparkassenplatz with a speech by Holocaust survivor Ágnes Heller on
the subject of a world that needs heroes.
On December 4,
2019, Bregenz received the Austrian SDG Award and was recognized as
a pioneer in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) in Austria. This was the first time that the Senate of
the Economy, supported by the Austrian National Council and the
Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism, had announced the
Austrian SDG Award for sustainable communities and cities in Austria
and in Vorarlberg the The market town of Nenzing and the state
capital Bregenz received awards.
Human presence in the area dates back to the Bronze Age. Celtic
tribes (the Brigantii) established a significant settlement here. Around
15 BC the Romans founded Brigantium, an important military and civilian
centre with a fort, harbour, forum and thermal baths. It was one of the
earliest Roman sites in what is now Austria and a key point on the Lacus
Brigantinus (the Roman name for Lake Constance).
After the Roman
period the settlement declined, then revived under the Counts of
Montfort in the Middle Ages. The fortified Oberstadt (Upper Town)
developed on a plateau overlooking the lake. Bregenz later passed to the
Habsburgs and grew as a regional centre of grain trade and
administration. In 1923 it became the capital of the newly established
federal state of Vorarlberg. The city still carries this dual character:
a compact historic core above the water and a modern lakeside cultural
zone.
Language and Regional Character
Vorarlberg is the only
Austrian state whose dialects belong to the High Alemannic group rather
than the Austro-Bavarian continuum. The local speech is closer to Swiss
German and the dialects of neighbouring Baden-Württemberg and
Liechtenstein. This linguistic difference reinforces a sense of distinct
identity - independent-minded, practical and oriented more toward the
west and the lake than toward Vienna. Local sayings and a strong work
ethic (“Schaffa, schaffa, Hüsle bauen” - work, work, build a little
house) remain part of everyday self-understanding.
The Bregenz
Festival - Cultural Heart of the City
The single most important
cultural institution is the Bregenzer Festspiele (Bregenz Festival),
founded in 1946, just one year after the Second World War. The first
performances took place on two gravel barges moored on the lake - one
for the stage, one for the orchestra - with Mozart’s Bastien und
Bastienne. The improvisation proved inspired. Over decades the festival
grew into an international landmark.
Its signature feature is the
Seebühne, the world’s largest floating stage, set on Lake Constance with
seating for around 7,000 spectators. Stage designs are rebuilt every two
years and are often spectacular, monumental constructions that interact
with the water, the sky and the surrounding landscape. The Vienna
Symphony Orchestra has been the resident orchestra since the beginning.
The festival typically runs from mid-July to late August and draws well
over 200,000 visitors in a good season. In 2026 it celebrates its 80th
anniversary; the main lakeside production is Verdi’s La traviata.
Parallel programmes in the Festspielhaus and the smaller Werkstattbühne
offer rarer works, contemporary pieces and chamber music.
The
festival has shaped Bregenz’s modern identity: a small city that punches
far above its weight in the international cultural calendar while
remaining closely tied to the physical beauty of the lake.
Other
Festivals and Living Traditions
Beyond the summer opera, the cultural
calendar is full. The Bregenzer Frühling is a respected contemporary
dance festival held in spring. A jazz festival takes place in early
summer. Carnival (Fasching/Fastnacht) follows Alemannic customs rather
than purely Austrian ones, with masks, processions and the noisy
Schellerlaufen (participants wearing large cowbells). After Shrove
Tuesday the region lights the Funken - tall wooden bonfires that
symbolically drive out winter - a practice shared with Alemannic areas
across the borders.
Nearby Bregenzerwald maintains particularly
strong traditional culture, including the elaborate women’s costume
known as the Juppe (a tightly pleated black or coloured linen dress with
distinctive headgear). The production and wearing of the Juppe are
recognised in Austria’s inventory of intangible cultural heritage. The
autumn cattle drives (Alpabtrieb) from high alpine pastures back to the
valleys remain important seasonal events, combining practical farming
with festive decoration of the animals and communal celebration.
Architecture - Medieval Core and Contemporary Icons
The Oberstadt
preserves the medieval street pattern, sections of the town walls and
atmospheric courtyards. Its landmark is the Martinsturm (St. Martin’s
Tower). Originally a 13th-century granary and defensive structure, it
received a chapel with important 14th-century frescoes and, between 1599
and 1601, was raised and crowned with a massive wooden onion dome by the
Graubünden builder Benedetto Prato. The dome is considered the first
major Baroque structure on Lake Constance and the largest of its kind in
Central Europe. The tower now houses a permanent exhibition on the
city’s history and offers panoramic views of lake, town and mountains.
Lower town architecture mixes 18th- and 19th-century buildings with bold
modern interventions. The Kunsthaus Bregenz (KUB), designed by Swiss
architect Peter Zumthor and opened in 1997, is a luminous glass cube
dedicated to contemporary art; exhibitions often occupy the entire
building. The vorarlberg museum on Kornmarktplatz presents the region’s
archaeology, ethnography and art history in a thoughtfully renovated and
expanded complex. Together these institutions demonstrate Vorarlberg’s
reputation for high-quality contemporary architecture rooted in a long
tradition of timber craftsmanship.
Cuisine - Lake and Alpine
Flavours
Vorarlberg’s kitchen is more Alemannic and Swiss-influenced
than Viennese. Cheese dominates. Käsknöpfle (or Käsespätzle) - small egg
noodles layered with local mountain cheeses (Bergkäse, Räßkäse) and
topped with fried onions - is the undisputed regional dish. Riebel, a
crispy fried cornmeal or wheat-semolina porridge traditionally eaten for
breakfast, is another local classic. Freshwater fish from Lake Constance
(whitefish/Felchen, trout) and the Bregenzer Ach appear simply prepared
or smoked. Game, cured meats and alpine dairy products round out the
repertoire. Many restaurants emphasise short supply chains and regional
producers; the nearby Bregenzerwald is famous for its Alpkäse and
Bergkäse made from silage-free milk.
Contemporary Atmosphere
Bregenz feels compact, walkable and culturally dense. The lakeside
promenade, the Seebühne area and the upper town form a continuous
cultural landscape. Year-round programming includes theatre at the
Theater am Kornmarkt, classical concerts, film, exhibitions and smaller
festivals. The city’s position in the four-country region (Austria,
Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein) brings a steady flow of visitors
while the local population maintains a practical, quality-conscious
lifestyle oriented toward outdoor life, good design and serious culture
rather than ostentation.
Location and Coordinates
The city sits at approximately
47°30′18″N 9°44′57″E. It lies on the eastern shore of Lake
Constance, with Switzerland to the west (across the Alpine Rhine
valley and lake approaches) and Germany to the northwest and north.
A very short land border with Germany (a few hundred meters) exists
in the mouth area of the Leiblach river near Lindau. Liechtenstein
lies farther south within Vorarlberg’s borders. The municipality
covers 29.5 km².
Bregenz forms a key junction between the Alpine
Rhine Valley and routes into the German Alpine foothills, with lake
shipping links across Constance.
Topography and Elevation
The landscape transitions sharply from the lake plain to rising
terrain. The city occupies a plateau that descends in terraces
toward the water. The lower town and shoreline areas sit near lake
level, while the historic upper town (Oberstadt) occupies a hillside
promontory. Settlement has expanded onto the slopes of the local
mountains and southwestward.
Lake surface elevation averages
about 395.7 m above the Adriatic (the lowest point in Vorarlberg).
City center elevation is roughly 398–427 m.
The highest point
within the municipal area exceeds 1,000 m on the slopes near the
Pfänder summit (in the Fluh area).
Pfänder (1,063–1,064 m) is
the city’s dominant local mountain (Hausberg). Its southern flank
includes the lower Gebhardsberg (around 598–600 m). A cable car
(Pfänderbahn) ascends the mountain, which offers panoramic views
across Lake Constance toward the German and Swiss shores and, on
clear days, dozens to hundreds of Alpine peaks. The western flank of
the Pfänder is steep, dissected by streams, and historically prone
to rockfalls, limiting dense settlement there.
East and inland
the terrain rises into the foothills of the Bregenz Forest Mountains
(Bregenzerwaldgebirge), part of the Northern Limestone Alps (Eastern
Alps). These are predominantly Mittelgebirge-style mountains:
forested, with alpine meadows, rounded forms in many areas, and only
limited high-Alpine character in the southeast. The broader
Bregenzerwald region drains toward Bregenz and the lake. Highest
peaks in the range reach about 2,134 m (Glatthorn).
The
underlying geology reflects the northern Alpine margin, with
Tertiary sandstones and conglomerates on the Pfänder ridge and
glacial/post-glacial deposits (including terraces and former delta
material from the Bregenzer Ach) shaping the lower plateaus such as
the Ölrain.
Hydrography
Lake Constance is the defining
water body. It is a large glacial lake shared by Austria, Germany,
and Switzerland (third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe by
surface area). Key figures include a total surface of roughly 536
km² (Obersee/Upper Lake ~473 km²), maximum length around 63 km,
maximum width about 14 km, average depth ~90 m, and maximum depth
~251 m. The Austrian shoreline measures about 28 km. The Alpine
Rhine (Alpenrhein) enters the lake in the southeast near Bregenz,
depositing sediment and forming the Rhine delta area. The lake
surface elevation is regulated around 395–396 m. Bregenz lies along
the Bay of Bregenz sector of the eastern shore.
The Bregenzer Ach
(also Bregenzer Ache or Ach) is the principal local river. It is
approximately 67 km long, rises at high elevation (~2,400 m) on the
eastern flank of the Mohnenfluh in the Lechquellen Mountains /
Bregenzerwald area, and drains a catchment of roughly 830–835 km²
covering much of the Bregenz Forest. It forms the southern and
southwestern municipal boundary with neighboring communities (such
as Lauterach and Hard) before emptying into Lake Constance. The
river has shaped sediment deposition, terraces, and parts of the
urban layout. Smaller streams from the Pfänder slopes also feed the
lake area.
Protected shoreline and river-mouth habitats include
Natura 2000 sites such as the Mehrerauer Seeufer – Mündung der
Bregenzerach (largely within Bregenz) and portions of the
Bregenzerachschlucht.
Climate
The climate is temperate and
significantly moderated by Lake Constance, which stores heat and
reduces temperature extremes. It is generally classified as oceanic
(Köppen Cfb). Annual mean temperatures are around 9.6–10 °C. Winters
are mild for the latitude and elevation (January means near 0–1 °C,
with lows often around or just below freezing), while summers are
warm (July means around 19 °C, with daytime highs frequently in the
low-to-mid 20s °C). Extreme records include lows near –23 °C and
highs near 37–38 °C.
Precipitation is relatively high (typically
1,500–1,530 mm per year), with a summer maximum due to convective
activity enhanced by the surrounding topography and the lake.
Snowfall occurs in winter, especially on higher ground (annual
averages around 80–90 cm in the city area, more on the mountains).
Sunshine totals are moderate, and the lake contributes to higher
humidity and occasional fog. The Pfänder and inland ranges create
local orographic effects and precipitation contrasts.