Villengärten

The Villengärten occupy, to the west of the historic center of Überlingen, a stretch of lakefront on Lake Constance. Everything began in the fifties of the 20th century. The municipal council brought the villas by the lake into public ownership. Where high walls once separated the plots from the water, the construction of the promenade created a more natural shoreline.

A copper beech and a linden mark the entrance, a kind of natural gateway. The arboretum past survives in a tulip tree, a sequoia, a wingnut and a tree of heaven. Around them, other trees already exceed sixty years of age. The historic bathhouse, protected as a monument, dates from before 1900 and recalls the bathing culture. It still stands on the old shoreline wall. The garden house from the mid-19th century once stood right on the lake's edge. The advance of the landfill, around 1976, moved the water away from the house. There, on nice days, a small kiosk serves coffee and snacks. The Kneipp facility has a water-treading basin, one of five in Überlingen, and another one for the arms. From spring to autumn, the cold water is said to invigorate whoever walks through it.

Accessible without barriers, the park integrates the garden culture path of the city. For the State Garden Show, thirteen display gardens, walkable floating gardens and an open-air library occupied the grounds. Of that exhibition remain the playground Kormorannest and a modern greenhouse. Inspired by the cormorant, the Kormorannest combines climbing logs, swings and slides facing the lake. The greenhouse shelters, all year round, the municipal collection of cacti and succulents. After more than 125 years in the city garden, the non-hardy plants gained a permanent home. Some of these plants have more than one hundred years, can reach seven meters and weigh several hundred kilograms.