When the water of the Untersee, the western arm of Lake Constance, was unusually low in the winter of 1853 to 1854, people around the Swiss and German shores noticed wooden posts sticking out of the mud. They were the remains of prehistoric pile dwellings, villages built on the lakeshore thousands of years ago, and the find sparked a wave of research and a craze for lake-dwelling romance across Europe. Wangen, on the German shore of the Untersee, was one of the first sites studied, and Wangen-Hinterhorn belongs to the World Heritage inscription for prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, though there is nothing to see above the water.
Wangen is a village on the Höri peninsula, a gentle land of orchards, vegetable gardens and reeds between the Untersee and the Zeller See. In the early twentieth century, artists and writers found refuge here: Hermann Hesse lived in Gaienhofen, and the painter Otto Dix spent his later years in Hemmenhofen, where his house is now a museum. Across the water lies the Swiss shore, with Steckborn and its castle, and to the east, the island of Reichenau, with its medieval monastery churches, is also on the UNESCO list.
The riding is calm and lovely. The roads around the Höri and along the Untersee are narrow and gentle, with views of the lake and the hills, and traffic is light except in summer. Stein am Rhein, a short ride west, is a medieval town with painted facades, and the road along the Rhine toward Schaffhausen and its falls is beautiful. The surface is good, and the main hazards are cyclists, tractors and the occasional tourist stopping suddenly for a view. Weather is mild, with fog on the lake in autumn.
For fuel, Radolfzell, about nine kilometres away, and Steckborn on the Swiss side are good options, though Swiss prices are higher. Food around the lake includes fish, especially whitefish called Felchen, local vegetables from the Höri and wines from the shore. A café terrace by the water is a good place to rest. Look out over the lake and imagine the villages of wooden huts on stilts that once stood in the shallows; the water has kept them for five thousand years.