Earlier, on the territory of modern Lake Constance there was a glacial valley. The total occupied area is 536 square kilometers, in some places the depth reaches 254 meters. Despite such depth, in very severe winters the lake can freeze. The reservoir is located at an altitude of 395 meters above sea level.
Lake Constance is located in the foothills of the Alps. Its waters wash the lands of three countries: Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The reservoir consists of three parts:
- Lower Lake.
- Top.
- The Rhine River, which connects two lakes.
The shores of the reservoir are mostly hilly, only in the southeastern part - rocky. There are several protected areas and cities on the coastline;
- belonging to Germany: Konstanz, Lindau and Friedrichshafen;
- Austrian city of Bregenez.
A bit of history
The Upper and Lower Lakes got their name back in the period of the Roman Empire.
The name appeared in the Middle AgesLacus Bodamicus, but it took root only among the Germanic-speaking peoples. The historian failed to find out where the prefix Bodamicus came from, and it is not clear why three reservoirs were united under this name.
Affiliation and disputes
Lake Constance is 237 kilometers long, of which:
- 173 km belongs to Germany;
- 28 kilometers - Austria;
- 72 kilometers - Switzerland.
The water area itself has no formal boundaries, and this, by the way, is the only such place in all of Europe. There are also no agreements between the three states on the boundaries and distribution of the territory of the reservoir. In principle, the lake is considered as a zone that does not belong to anyone, but this zone does not include the shore itself and 25 meters deep into the continent.
Three countries that have access to the reservoir have completely different points of view regarding borders. However, the issues of fishing and navigation between countries are regulated by separate international acts.
Water crossings
A common visa regime has been established between the countries, that is, you can visit three countries without any problems. And navigation on the lake is carried out by a fleet called the White Fleet of Lake Constance, which includes ships from all three countries. On the shores of the cities of Constanta and Meesburg, you can rent a yacht, boat or ride a ferry. They run frequently, but from 12 midnight to 6 am, with breaks of 1 hour.
Islands
Lake Constance is attractive in terms of tourism, on itsThe shores are full of interesting places and beautiful islands. We'll talk about the latter later.
Mainau Flower Island
This small island of land (45 hectares) attracts about 2 million tourists annually.
It all started a long time ago, about 3 thousand years ago, when the Celts mastered this land. Around 15 BC, the Romans came to the island and launched a grandiose construction project, built a port and a whole city.
Already in the 10th century, the Reichenau monastery owned the island, but not for long. The Teutonic Order came, which owned this territory for 500 years. Later, the island passed from one private hand to another. And in 1827, Prince Esterhazy became the owner, who was fond of flowers and began to actively breed them. Later, the owners changed one after another, and they all planted flowers. Now tourists come to the island to admire the Palm Park and the dahlia garden, exotic trees and the butterfly garden. The climate on Mainau is very similar to the Mediterranean, so the flowering of plants begins in early spring and ends in late autumn. If you come here, don't forget to look into the ancient baroque knight's castle.
Lindau Island
The city of Lindau is located on the Bavarian land. Its historical part is located on the island, which is located in the place where the river Laiblach flows into the lake.
The island is connected to the mainland by bridges (road and rail) and occupies only 0.68km2.
Most of this island in Lake Constance is occupied by old buildings, which tourists come to admire.
Reichenau Island
This piece of sushi is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. After all, the building of the Benedictine abbey has been preserved here. It was erected around 724 and is a prime example of medieval architecture.
Tragedy over Lake Constance
In 2002, on July 1, two airliners collided in the sky over Germany. One is a civilian flight 2937 "Moscow - Barcelona" (TU-154). The second aircraft carried cargo, was on the route Bahrain - Bergamo - Brussels (Boeing 757), belonged to DHL.
In the disaster over Lake Constance, absolutely everyone died - 71 people. There were 52 children on the civilian ship.
Preceding Circumstances
The flight departing from Moscow was taking the children on vacation to Spain. There were 52 children, 8 adult passengers and 9 crew members on board. It was an incentive trip organized for especially gifted children. The rest was financed entirely from the budget of the Republic of Bashkortostan. One of those who died over Lake Constance was the daughter of Rim Sufiyanov, head of the committee that organized the trip.
It is noteworthy that the group missed their flight the day before. At the request of the travel agency, an additional flight was organized and 8 more tickets were sold.
Boeing operated its scheduled flight with an intermediate stop in Bergamo,Italy.
How it happened
The airspace over Germany was controlled by a private company in Switzerland - Skyguide. The control tower was located in Zurich, and 2 controllers were supposed to monitor the flights, but one was absent for a lunch break. The remaining dispatcher Peter Nilson (at that time he was only 34 years old) and an assistant were watching the two terminals.
In the control room, the equipment was partially turned off, and Peter noticed the dangerous approach of the planes too late.
Literally a minute before the liners crossed, the dispatcher instructed the TU-154 crew to descend. The crew was already ready to maneuver, but the Boeing had not yet been seen. And suddenly the TCAS system (automatic aircraft warning system) transmitted another, conflicting command to climb. At the same time, the crew of the Boeing received the command to descend.
Only the TU-154 pilot Itkulov drew the attention of the others that two contradictory commands had been received. The controller again gave an order to descend, the crew of the civil airliner confirmed it and kept silent about the message from the TCAS system. The crew of Flight 2937 was misled, as they thought that there was another aircraft in addition to the aircraft visible on the radar, so they still needed to descend.
The crew of the Boeing, following the instructions of their TCAS system, went down. The pilots tried to contact the dispatcher, but he did not hear, as he was communicating on a different frequency with the crew of the TU-154.
When the pilots of both planes saw each other,they immediately tried to prevent a collision, but it was too late.
The plane crash over Lake Constance occurred at 21:35:32 on July 1, 2002.
The planes collided almost at a right angle, the Boeing stabilizer hit the Tu-154 fuselage, causing the latter to break in half. The passenger plane, while falling down, broke into four parts, which fell in the district of the city of Überlingenwa.
Boeing lost two of its engines and crashed 7 kilometers from the remnants of TU-154.
Only one thing pleases: as a result of the plane crash on Lake Constance, no one was injured on the ground, although some parts of the airliners ended up in the yards of residential buildings.
Investigation
Consideration of the causes of the tragedy lasted about 2 years. The case was handled by the German Federal Bureau of Investigation. The bureau announced its decision on May 1, 2004. The official causes of the disaster over Lake Constance were announced as follows:
- the air traffic controller failed to inform the crew in time about the need to descend, that is, he was unable to ensure safe separation;
- The crew of the TU-154 aircraft performed a maneuver contrary to the instructions of TCAS.
The commission also noted that the integration of the aircraft's safety system was incomplete, and the instruction to it contradicted itself. Partially blamed on the leadership of the Swiss company, which exercised control over the aviation space. The company did not have enough employees, especially for night work. In addition, the hazard warning system was turned off in the control room on that very day, ostensibly for maintenance. The main telephone line was also disconnected, and the second duplicating line was generally out of order. Therefore, the dispatcher Peter could not even agree with colleagues at the Friedrichshafen airport to take the Airbus A320, which was late. For the same reason, the center dispatcher in Karlsruhe could not contact Nelson, although he saw that the liners were dangerously approaching, and called 11 times, alas, to no avail.
What happened next
But the story of the plane crash on Lake Constance did not end there. On February 24, 2004, Peter Nilsson was found dead on his doorstep.
The Russian Kaloev Vitaly Konstantinovich turned out to be the killer. At the time of the murder, he was 46 years old. And the reason for this act was the death of his wife and two children during a collision over Lake Constance. According to Vitaly, he just wanted Peter to apologize, but he behaved aggressively, threw away the photos of the Kaloev family, and pushed him away.
At the trial, Vitaly did not deny or confirm that he committed the murder, but only said that after talking with Nelson he did not remember anything. As a result, he was sentenced to 8 years. This happened in 2005. A year later, this case was reviewed in the Court of Appeal, and the court took into account Kaloev's limited legal capacity in connection with the loss of his wife and children and somewhat weakened the sentence. As a result, he was sentenced to 5 years and 3 months instead of 8. In 2007Vitaly even managed to get out ahead of schedule. He immediately returns to Russia, to his homeland in North Ossetia. And he is greeted as a hero. And in 2008, a man was even appointed Deputy Minister for Architecture.
Bashkiria vs Germany
The Bashkir Airlines, the owner of the lost aircraft on Lake Constance, filed a lawsuit against Germany in 2005. The company demanded damages in the amount of 2.6 million euros from the country. Despite German objections, the Court of Constanta ruled that the German state was solely responsible for its airspace and had no right to enter into agreements with a foreign company to provide air traffic control services. The agreements between Germany and the Swiss company Skyguide were declared invalid, and the court ruled to indemnify the airline.
The German government has been challenging the decision in courts of various levels for a long time. As a result, when the case got to the Higher Regional Court in Karlsruhe, the parties were able to reach an amicable agreement, the case was closed.
Compensation to families of victims and lawsuits
It is clear that no one can be returned after the tragedy over Lake Constance, and nothing can be changed either, but still the Skyguide insurance company had to pay compensation to the families of the victims. During 2004, they paid a total of about 150 thousand dollars. Naturally, the amounts due to each of the relatives of the victims were not disclosed.
After that, in 2005, the insurance company went to courtwith a lawsuit against Bashkir Airlines demanding compensation for the compensation paid, since the pilots in the disaster on Lake Constance are also to blame. However, the court rejected the claim.
Not all family members of the victims agreed to accept material compensation on the condition that the company would not be held legally liable. 30 victims filed lawsuits against Bashkir Airlines demanding compensation of $20.4 thousand for each victim. There were long proceedings, from 2009 to 2011, and as a result, the Swiss court ruled that the maximum amount for each deceased would be 33 thousand Swiss francs at that time.
Memory
Travelers are not the only sights on Lake Constance now. Many people come to the crash site and lay flowers. Now there is a memorial called "Broken Pearl String". And in the control room where Peter worked, there is always a live rose.
All the dead are buried at the Southern Cemetery in the city of Ufa. Their graves are arranged in the order in which they sat on Flight 2937. There is also a memorial in their honor on the territory of the cemetery.
Only the Kaloev family is buried in Vladikavkaz. There are always fresh flowers on three graves.
Public reaction
Many films have been made about the disaster at Lake Constance. In 2005, the film "The Boden Trap" was released on TV Channel Russia. The National Geographic Channel also produced two documentaries.
Switzerland and Germany co-produced a TV movie about the disaster called "Flying in the night - disaster over Überlingen". There are a number of other films and documentaries produced by various film companies.
In July of this year, a film about the disaster and the murder of the dispatcher will be released in Russia. The picture is called "Unforgiven", directed by Sarik Andreasyan.
