Wasserschloss Burgberg

Wasserschloss Burgberg stands in Überlingen, a town on the German shore of Lake Constance. A moated castle already stood here in 1374, and noble families have built on the spot ever since. The house you see today took shape in the last third of the seventeenth century, when defence gave way to comfort.

Traces of that first castle survive in the ground plan and in some of the older walls. The estate is in private hands, so you see it from the outside, on footpaths that families and walkers favour. The region around the lake holds more noble houses. Schloss Salem, about seven kilometres away, carries a style and a story of its own. Mainau is famous for its gardens, while Hohenfels shows what centuries of neglect bring.

The building is a favourite subject for photographs, and the habit is an old one. Local archives hold drawings and pictures of the estate going back to the late nineteenth century. They show how it has changed and, in some ways, how little.