Villengärten

On the shore of Lake Constance, just west of Überlingen's old town, lie the Villengärten. They trace their beginnings to 1950s council decisions that brought the lakeside villa properties into public ownership. High walls once separated those plots from the water. The lakeside collector and the new promenade brought a more natural shoreline, and paths lead from it straight into the city garden.

The grounds began life chiefly as an arboretum. A tulip tree, a tree of heaven, a sequoia and a wingnut grow here, some of them more than sixty years old. At the entrance, a copper beech and a linden form a natural gateway. A pre-1900 bathhouse still stands on the former shore wall, protected as a monument to the town's bathing culture. Beside two raised herb beds, a Kneipp water-treading basin invites you to wade through cold water, feet lifting clear with every step. A second basin is there for dipping your arms, said to have a revitalising effect of its own.

The State Garden Show of 2021 reshaped the grounds again. Its legacy includes the 'Kormorannest' playground, modelled on the cormorant with climbing logs, swings and slides facing the lake. A modern glasshouse from the same project shelters the city's collection of cacti and succulents. Some of the plants are over a hundred years old, reach up to seven metres and weigh several hundred kilograms. The park is barrier-free and belongs to Überlingen's garden culture path, which links several of the town's green spaces. The garden house dates from the mid-nineteenth century and stood at the waterline until the shore was filled in around 1976. Inside, a small kiosk serves coffee and snacks on fine days.