Light and connectivity to improve tourism and carbon footprint of Überlingen’s scenic holiday destination

Located on the northern shore of Lake Constance, Überlingen is the second largest city in the district. With its historic buildings and lakeside promenade, it is one of the most picturesque and scenic regions in Germany and thus a popular holiday destination.

In 2016, the local council decided to upgrade the lighting as part of its sustainability initiatives. The town has a long tradition as a “garden city” and wants to cultivate green spaces in every sense. The new lighting was to not only reduce the city’s energy consumption but also minimise all light pollution, especially along the lake, as they considered that the existing lighting was too bright and intrusive in certain spaces.

The town entrusted the Innsbruck based lighting design office Bartenbach to draw up a lighting plan in 3 phases. The firm took a holistic and methodical approach from the early design stage to take care of the natural environment and benefit the entire community.

The Shuffle was chosen to light the Bodensee palm tree lined promenade. Home to a number of cafes and restaurants, it offers beautiful views over Lake Constance. It was important that the lighting create a secure and cosy ambiance for residents and tourists to take advantage of the views while protecting the lake.

Bartenbach chose the Shuffle as it met all the requirements for aesthetics, photometric performance, energy efficiency, long-term maintenance, seasonal changes and connectivity.

The Shuffle directs the light onto the promenade, so people can take long, romantic strolls around in complete safety and comfort while spotlight modules were integrated into the column to highlight specific architecture or functional objects in the port. The lake and the marine life are protected from any intrusive light and glare.

As more and more tourists want to be able to connect easily and for free from wherever they are, the town is putting in place free WiFi as part of its Smart Tourist Destination strategy. We worked with TeleData, the local telecom operator and the Stadtwerke am See Friedrichshafen, the public utilities to install WiFi access points in certain Shuffle columns. They guarantee perfect surfing conditions at all times so visitors can create and share beautiful holiday memories instantly.
By integrating the WiFi modules in the columns, the town has cleverly minimised the visual aspect and reduced its environmental impact.

A total of 60 Shuffle columns were installed along the lake side promenade. They ensure the perfect Riveria ambiance for residents and tourists after a day of hiking, cycling or sailing so they can admire, capture and of course share, those idyllic sunsets.


Customer: Town of Überlingen

Partner(s): Bartenbach, TeleData, Stadtwerke am See Friedrichshafen