Bregenz

Sister cities

• Bangor
• Acre

History

The first settlements date from 1500 BC. The Brigantii are mentioned by Strabo as a Celtic sub-tribe in this region of the Alps. In the 5th century BC, the Celts settled at Brigantion, which became one of their most heavily fortified locations. After a series of battles in 15 BC, the Romans conquered Brigantion and the city became a Roman camp. It was conferred the status of a municipality (Brigantium) around 50 AD. Brigantium was the seat of the Roman admiralty for Lake Constance and included a theatre. In 259/60 Brigantium was destroyed by the Alemanni, Germanic peoples who settled in the area in around 450. From 610 to 612 Saint Columbanus and Saint Gall worked as missionaries in Bregenz. From 917 onwards the castle served as a residence of the Udalrichinger (ruling dynasty of Vorarlberg), who called themselves Counts of Bregenz. The house died out around 1150. The son of the first Ulrich was Saint Gebhard, born in 947. He became the Bishop of Konstanz. In around 1170 Hugo of Tübingen (Montfort) founded a town settlement (first documented in 1249), enlarged it in the 13th and 14th centuries and from 1650 to 1652. The city was sold in 1451, and again in 1523, to the Habsburgs and continued under Austrian rule, with a brief occupation by Swedish forces under Carl Gustaf Wrangel during the 30 Years' War, until the 19th century. Bregenz was under Bavarian rule from 1805 to 1814. From 1842 to 1850, the harbour on Lake Constance was built, then enlarged in 1883 and from 1889 to 1891, and Austrian ship service was inaugurated in 1884. Railway services have existed since 1872, and since 1884 across the Arlberg massif. Since 1726, Bregenz has been the main seat of Austrian administration in Vorarlberg (Obervogtei, in 1786 Kreisamt, since 1861 seat of the Landtag, since…

Most-observed species

• Annual Fleabane

  Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. · Magnoliopsida
  9,586
• Butterfly-bush

  Buddleja davidii Franch. · Magnoliopsida
  3,648
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,700
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,697
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,557
• Mute Swan

  Cygnus olor (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  2,427
• Black-headed Gull

  Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,377
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,277

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2026-04-26
  4 km NNW of Quarten, Switzerland
• M 4.2 — 2024-06-04
  2 km NNW of Unteriberg, Switzerland
• M 3.8 — 2022-09-01
  2 km WSW of Sevelen, Switzerland
• M 4 — 2020-10-25
  5 km ESE of Ennenda, Switzerland
• M 3.6 — 2020-08-08
  5 km SE of Gramais, Austria
• M 3.8 — 2018-02-01
  4 km N of Innerbraz, Austria