Underwater archaeologists working in Lake Constance, the largest inland body of water in Germany, have identified a shipwreck that dates back to the late Middle Ages. The discovery, made off the shore of Lindau near the Austrian border, has surprised researchers because of its age: the vessel was built between AD 1420 and 1450, far earlier than initial estimates suggested.
The tip came from a local recreational diver who knew the area well. “He had already suspected that it might be a wreck,” said Prof Dr Tobias Pflederer, a cardiologist from Kaufbeuren and honorary president of the Bavarian Society for Underwater Archaeology (BGfU), who also serves as a professor at the University of Erlangen. Speaking to Euronews, Pflederer explained that the team initially could not be certain the wooden remains were from a ship. “What was particularly exciting was that we were really able to identify the remains of wood as a wreck. That was not clear from the outset; they could have been other pieces of timber. But once several frames and remains of the hull were protruding from the lake bed, the interpretation quickly became clear.”
A Rare Find for the Region
Lake Constance, bordered by Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, has yielded only a handful of late medieval wrecks. According to Pflederer, only four such vessels have been documented so far. “We had actually expected it to be dated to the modern era. Although there are already some wrecks from the late Middle Ages in Lake Constance, there are still only a few – four so far. The wreck can therefore provide further insights into shipbuilding and navigation on Lake Constance in the late Middle Ages.”
The newly discovered vessel is estimated to have been between eight and twelve metres long, with a hull width of about three metres. The frames—the load-bearing structural components akin to ribs in a ship’s body—were found protruding from the lake bed. The BGfU’s underwater archaeologists had previously recovered several heavier dugout canoes from Lake Constance and Lake Chiemsee, some of which are now displayed at the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
Analysis of a small wood sample, conducted in consultation with the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments, used radiocarbon (C14) dating to pinpoint the wreck’s age. The results, also reported by the Schwäbische Zeitung, confirmed the 15th-century origin. Pflederer, however, cautioned against overstating the find: “So far we have carried out only two dives and made merely an initial survey, that is, producing orthophotographs and taking a wood sample from one of the frames.”
No Plans for Salvage
Unlike the spectacular Roman-era cargo discovered in Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, there are no immediate plans to raise this wreck. Pflederer explained that salvage would be prohibitively expensive and potentially damaging. “Salvage always means that the parts of the wreck have to be professionally conserved and preserved. This is an enormously expensive undertaking. Moreover, nothing is more conserving and protective than leaving the wreck underwater, and better still under a cover of sediment.” He added that there is discussion of a possible small-scale excavation to determine the ship’s construction method and precise dimensions.
The BGfU, which has around 100 members—mostly volunteers including professional archaeologists, trained research divers, students, and hobbyists—continues to explore several lakes in the region. The discovery adds to a growing body of underwater archaeology in European waters, from the Bay of Gibraltar to the Mediterranean. For now, the medieval vessel off Lindau will remain undisturbed, a quiet witness to the maritime history of the Alpine foreland.
