Gallows Island

	Gallows Island
	; The Galgeninsel, in the foreground the Lindau city bridge. Antoni Remm, 1579
	Geographical location
Coordinates	47 ° 33 '0 " N , 9 ° 42' 14" E Coordinates: 47 ° 33 '0 " N , 9 ° 42' 14" E
Waters 1	Reutin Bay
Waters 2	Obersee , Lake Constance
length	66 m
width	46 m
surface	0.16 ha
	; The original position sheet from 1836 still clearly shows the Gallows Island as islands

The Galgeninsel is a peninsula on the shores of Lake Constance near Lindau in the Reutin Bay. It is located 550 meters east of the island of Hoy and about 200 meters south of the loading street at the Reutiner freight station and covers an area of around 1,600 square meters. The area of the peninsula is part of the Lindau district and subdistrict Reutin .

The gallows island was originally the island where once the imperial city gallows stood Lindau. Even today you can find a depression in a huge boulder that once received the heavy gallows post. A map from the 16th century shows the Gallows Island as a single island, but not in the geographically correct position. A map from the period 1626 to 1628, on the other hand, clearly shows a peninsula, whereby the representation is very similar to today's conditions. An engraving by Merian from 1650 depicting the island siege of 1647 also shows a peninsula. A city view from the early 18th century does not indicate an island or peninsula, as this appears at the edge of the picture. The original position sheet from 1836 shows the Gallows Island still clearly as an island or as several islands. Later maps show the Gallows Island as a peninsula.

As early as 1856, remnants of a prehistoric settlement of the Gallows Island were observed in the lake near the Gallows Island. However, more recent investigations, as part of the planned expansion of the freight yard in 2005, have not produced any findings . The Galgeninsel and the surrounding “ Reutin Bay ” are designated as a nature reserve.

A legend tells of a macabre test that a death-sentence delinquent once had to pass. The death row inmate was handcuffed with his arms tied tightly behind his back. He was released on Gallows Island and set off for the island city , which is a few hundred meters away. The doomed man is now said to have managed to overcome the still considerable depth even at low tide and to reach the mainland. With that he had regained life and freedom.

As the last victim of the witch hunt in Lindau, Maria Madlener was executed by sword on August 4, 1730 on Galgeninsel.

In 2017 the Galgeninsel was one of the locations for the television film Die Toten vom Bodensee - Der Wiederkehrer .

literature

Tobias Pflederer: "Research in the research gap " - underwater archeology in the Bavarian part of Lake Constance . In: Commission for underwater archeology (ed.): News sheet working group underwater archeology . tape 11-12 . Janus, 2005, p. 71–75 ( online (PDF; 106 KiB) [accessed April 1, 2010]).

Web links

Government of Swabia: Reutin Bay Protected Area

Individual evidence

↑ File: Rauch Veriungter Abriss des Heyl Reichs Statt Lindaw.jpg
↑ File: Lindau 1650 plan by Matthäus Merian.jpg
^ The original position sheets of the land survey in Bavaria - Lindau II and the surrounding area in 1836; Sheet 852. (JPG; 307 KiB) In: bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de. Bayerische Landesbibliothek Online, accessed on February 24, 2015 .

[1] File: Rauch Veriungter Abriss des Heyl Reichs Statt Lindaw.jpg

[2] File: Lindau 1650 plan by Matthäus Merian.jpg

[3] The original position sheets of the land survey in Bavaria - Lindau II and the surrounding area in 1836; Sheet 852. (JPG; 307 KiB) In: bayerische-landesbibliothek-online.de. Bayerische Landesbibliothek Online, accessed on February 24, 2015 .