Gottlieben

Gottlieben is one of the smallest communes in Thurgau, a short row of half-timbered houses on the bank of the Seerhein where the water leaves Lake Constance, with two large old hotels facing the river. Its castle, built by the bishops of Constance in the thirteenth century, held Jan Hus in 1415, chained in a wooden cell on its west tower, before the Council of Constance tried and burned him, and at the same time held the deposed Pope John XXIII - two prisoners of very different kinds. The castle is privately owned and not open. The village trades on its setting and on Gottlieber Hueppen, filled wafer rolls from the local bakery known well beyond Switzerland. The riverside path to Konstanz is a flat half-hour.

Highlights

• A row of half-timbered houses - the whole village, on the Seerhein bank.
• The castle that held Hus - and, later, a deposed pope; privately owned.
• Gottlieber Hueppen - the filled wafer rolls of the village bakery.
• A flat river path to Konstanz - about half an hour along the bank.

When to go

April to October. Two hours.

Practical notes

The village is tiny and the castle cannot be visited - the association is historical, not something you can walk into. Restaurants are the main business and prices are high. It fills with day-trippers off the boats.

Nearby

Konstanz is across the German border; Arenenberg is west along the Untersee.

Key facts