On the Höri peninsula, the long finger of land that pokes into the Untersee arm of Lake Constance, the shallow water off the point of Hornstaad hides the remains of a village burned some six thousand years ago. Hornstaad-Hörnle is one of the most important Neolithic sites in the region: the settlement was destroyed by fire, and the charred remains, sealed in lake mud, preserved an extraordinary record of daily life, including food, textiles, tools and house timbers, which dendrochronology has dated with great precision. It is part of the World Heritage inscription of the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, and finds from the site are displayed in museums around the lake.
The Höri has a special place in German cultural history. In the early twentieth century, it became a refuge for artists and writers seeking a simple life away from the cities. Hermann Hesse lived in Gaienhofen with his first wife from 1904 to 1912, and his house and garden can be visited. During the Nazi era, painters such as Otto Dix, labelled "degenerate", retreated here, and Dix lived and painted in Hemmenhofen for the rest of his life. The peninsula's gentle landscape of orchards, reeds and lake views has a quiet, timeless appeal.
The roads on the Höri are narrow and winding, following the shore through small villages and orchards, with frequent views of the lake and the Swiss shore across the water. Traffic can be heavy on summer weekends, with cyclists and tourists everywhere, but on a weekday or out of season the riding is a pleasure. The island of Reichenau, with its UNESCO-listed churches, is a short ride away, reached by a causeway, and the roads across the Bodanrück toward Konstanz offer more curves and hills. Crossing into Switzerland at Stein am Rhein or Steckborn opens up more scenic routes.
Gaienhofen and the other Höri villages have cafés, small restaurants and guesthouses, and Radolfzell, at the base of the peninsula, has fuel and every service. Local food includes fish from the lake, especially whitefish known here as Felchen, and the Höri bulb onion, a local speciality. Find a quiet spot by the shore, look out at the reeds and the water, and imagine the village that stood there six thousand years ago, its houses on piles and its people fishing the lake.