The winter of 1853 to 1854 was so dry that the water in Lake Zurich fell to an unusually low level, and at Obermeilen, on the eastern shore, villagers extending their land into the lake found rows of wooden piles sticking out of the mud, along with pottery, bone tools and stone axes. The antiquarian Ferdinand Keller studied the finds and concluded that they came from prehistoric villages built on platforms over the water, and his reports launched the pile dwelling craze that swept through Europe in the nineteenth century. Rorenhaab, at Obermeilen, is that very site, and it is part of the pile dwellings around the Alps listing inscribed by UNESCO in 2011.
Today the shore here is lined with gardens, villas and boat houses, and it takes imagination to picture the Neolithic village that once stood on the water. Meilen is one of the villages of the so-called Gold Coast, the sunny eastern shore of Lake Zurich, which gets the afternoon and evening sun and has long been a favourite place for wealthy Zurich families to live. Vineyards climb the slopes behind the villages, and the Pfannenstiel, a wooded ridge above, offers walking trails and views over the lake to the Alps.
The Seestrasse, the lakeside road from Zurich to Rapperswil, runs through Meilen, and it is busy, with traffic lights, speed limits and plenty of cars. The roads up into the hills behind, through vineyards and villages towards the Pfannenstiel and the Zurich Oberland, are quieter and more interesting, with curves and views over the lake. A car ferry links Meilen with Horgen on the opposite shore, a handy shortcut and a pleasant break. Swiss speed limits are strictly enforced.
Meilen has fuel and a range of shops, and Männedorf, three kilometres along the shore, has more. In summer, the public lake baths along this coast, the Seebäder, are one of the great pleasures of Zurich life, with wooden decks and clean, cool water. The vineyards above Meilen produce Räuschling and Pinot Noir, and a glass on a terrace in the evening sun is the reward the Gold Coast is named for. The car ferry to Horgen runs frequently and turns a crossing of the lake into a ten-minute break with a view of the Alps.