The Konstanz was put into service on March 27, 1975 as a replacement for the Meersburg from 1939 . It is the fourth ferry on Lake Constance that bears the name of the Baden city. The ferry was modernized in winter 2002/2003.
In the 1960s, the Konstanz public utility responded to the steadily growing traffic flows with modern ships (Thurgau class) and, from 1970, with night operation. In the 1970s, two transport policy issues increasingly shaped the discussions, especially in the western Lake Constance region: On the one hand, the planned A 81 motorway from Stuttgart to Singen with a connection option to Constance and a connection to the planned Munich - Lindau motorway through the northern Lake Constance hinterland. On the other hand, a tunnel under or a (swimming) bridge over the Überlinger See to Constance. Both designs presented incalculable risks for ferry operations, especially the tunnel / bridge variant. Stadtwerke Konstanz did not want to rely on the failure of the plans for environmental and / or cost reasons and responded by increasing capacity. A new type of ship with a length of 68 meters for 54 cars was developed for this purpose. The first large-capacity ferry of this type was the new Konstanz in 1975 . In 1980 the Meersburg followed and in 1993 the Kreuzlingen ; even larger units were already being planned. A prerequisite for the greater loading capacity to lead to more efficiency was faster loading and unloading using wider landing bridges in the Staad and Meersburg ferry ports. But not only the capacity for vehicles was increased, but also that for passengers with and without bicycles increased from 600 to 700. A bistro restaurant and generous outdoor seating also contributed to the increase in comfort and experience.
literature
Waltraud Gut: On the way to the ferry. 75 years of the Konstanz-Meersburg ferry . UVK Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Konstanz 2003. ISBN 3-89669-733-1
