Höchsten Tour

From the valley up to the Höchsten

The Deggenhausertal is the starting point for this circular route through the hinterland of Lake Constance. Following the Deggenhauser Aach, the route leads via Untersiggingen to Wittenhofen. The valley section gives way to the climb via Wattenberg to the Höchsten. Here the route gains considerable height: the mountain is both its scenic centrepiece and the main physical challenge of the first section.

At the top, clear weather brings views across the Linzgau to Lake Constance and beyond to the Alps. This elevated vantage point offers an overview of the landscape whose valleys and ridges shape the character of the route.

Beside Lake Illmensee and up to Heiligenberg

The high-level section is followed by a descent to Illwangen. At Lake Illmensee, water replaces the sweeping mountain panorama. The lake formed during the last Ice Age; woodland, grassland and arable fields characterise its catchment area. It is one of the protected lake landscapes of Upper Swabia.

The route reaches the upper Deggenhausertal via Echbeck. Another climb awaits on the stretch to Wintersulgen, before Schloss Heiligenberg provides the next cultural highlight. The palace stands high above the Lake Constance landscape. In the 16th century, the House of Fürstenberg had a Renaissance palace built here on the site of a medieval castle. Its historic interiors include the Knights’ Hall, with its carved wooden ceiling, ancestral portraits and heraldic paintings.

Through the Linzgau to Salem

From Heiligenberg, the route passes through woodland, then continues via Beuren, Weildorf and Stefansfeld to Salem. The former Cistercian abbey presents a different form of grand architecture. Its foundation dates back to a gift of land in 1134; it later became an imperial abbey.

The Gothic minster and Baroque monastery buildings represent different periods of this history. The order’s initially austere architecture gave way to an imposing complex with lavishly appointed rooms. The route thus brings together an aristocratic Renaissance palace and a monastery that acquired a palatial character during the Baroque period.

From Salem-Stefansfeld, the final section leads back through woodland and along the Aach. Returning to the starting point completes a circuit linking valley scenery, panoramic hilltop views, an Ice Age lake and the 2 historic complexes.