Konstanz, or Constance, is located at the western end of Upper Lake Constance in southern Germany.  Konstanz is the birthplace of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917), the constructor of the Zeppelin airships.  Zeppelin began developing the idea of a rigid airship in 1874 and developed it in detail by 1893. It was patented in Germany in 1895 and the United States in 1899. Zeppelins were first flown commercially in 1910 by Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG (DELAG), the world's first airline in revenue service. By 1914, DELAG carried over 10 000 fare-paying customers on over 1500 flights. They were put into service during World War I as bombers and as scouts. Zeppelins are credited with killing over 500 Britain citizens on numerous bombing raids over the United Kingdom.  Restrictions were placed on Zeppelin construction as a part of the Treaty of Versailles and not lifted until 1926. Larger Zeppelin's were designed and constructed. During the 1930s, LZ 129 Hindenburg operated...

Konstanze is a university city with about 85 000 people located at the western end of Lake Constance. The German-Swiss border runs along the south western and southern edge of the city. The Swiss town of Kreuzlingen is right next to Konstanz.