Stein am Rhein

A town at the outfall of Lower Lake Constance into the High Rhine, whose medieval centre keeps its ancient street plan; the line of the city wall and the gates survive, though the wall itself is now made of houses. The old quarter is pedestrianised and a great many of its buildings are painted with frescoes. Around 1007 Emperor Henry II moved St George’s Abbey here from the Hohentwiel to strengthen his hold on a point where major road and river routes crossed, granting the abbots wide rights over the town and its trade, to considerable effect.