For many people, the palace pier, where we are now standing, is the most beautiful part of the whole of Friedrichshafen – and I can understand why. It is so romantic here, and many couples choose to have their wedding photos taken here.
As you can see, the water here is clearly too shallow for ships and boats. This pier was only ordered to be built by King Charles I so that he could present himself here or greet guests arriving from afar. The King had a lot of prominent guests: grand dukes from Baden, members of the French and Austrian nobility, and even the Russian Tsar family came to visit.
If you go further along the cast-iron pier, you’ll get to the Schlosshorn. That’s the old harbour. If you look closely, you can see wooden posts where the water is shallow enough. Those are the remains of the old harbour in Hofen. There used to be another harbour in Buchhorn, but King Frederick offered better value services from Hofen. This led to a proper competition over trade with Swiss ships. In 1811, the two areas came together to form one city, and the harbour at the palace was abandoned.
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