Bregenz

Bregenz stands on terraces above the eastern and south-eastern shore of Lake Constance, beneath the wooded Pfänder. Roads link the Rhine valley with the German Alpine foothills, while lake traffic gives the city a separate route through the region. Celtic settlement at Brigantion became Roman Brigantium after conquest in 15 BCE and was granted municipal status around 50 CE. Brigantium included a theatre and served as the Roman admiralty for Lake Constance.

The medieval town formed beneath the castle of the counts of Bregenz, and Hugo of Montfort established a new urban settlement around 1170. The Habsburgs acquired the city in 1451 and again in 1523, making it an administrative centre in Vorarlberg. Bregenz’s position between waterborne routes and Alpine passes has therefore remained important through Celtic, Roman, comital and Austrian periods.

Terrace cultivation and settlement step down toward the lake, while the Pfänder forms a steep, wooded rise immediately behind the town. The lake's position between Switzerland and Germany made control of Bregenz's shore and roads valuable in regional conflicts.