Constance, or Kostnitz, a city of Baden, once a free imperial city, is situated on both sides of the Rhine, at its exit from Lake Constance, 91 miles E. of Basel by rail. One of the most ancient towns of Germany, Constance owed its prosperity to its linen industry, already famous in the 12th century. Its manufactures also include cotton, jute, and waterproof fabrics, canvas, carpets, chemicals, bell-founding, etc. It has a cathedral (dating partly from the 11th century), an old Dominican convent (now an hotel), and the present market-hall, in which three places the sessions of the great Church Council of Constance (1414-18) were held. Pop. 26,235.

Lake Constance (German Bodensee or Bod-manses; Roman Lacus Brigantinus) lies between Switzerland and Germany, on the north side of the Swiss Alps, and forms a meeting-point of the five territories - Baden, Wurtemberg, Bavaria, Vorarlberg (Austria), and Switzerland. Lying 1306 feet above the sea, and traversed by the Rhine from east to west, it has a length of 44 miles, an extreme breadth of 9 miles, an area of 208 sq. m., and a depth of 490 feet (maximum 906). Towns on its shores are Constance, Bregenz, Lindau, and Friedrichshafen.