Paradies, Konstanz

Konstanz' districts: Paradies in the west of the Old Town

Paradies(literally: "paradise" ) is a former village, now a quarter ofKonstanz,Germany.The district is located west of the Old Town on the southern shore of theSeerhein;with an area of about 63.2hectare(632,034 m²(6,803,160 sq ft), to be exact) and 6176 inhabitants (2007 census).

In theLate Middle Ages,it was a fishing and farming village calledEggehusen.Its original centre was the St Leonard's Chapel erected in the 14th century at the site of a formerPoor Claresmonastery with the nameclaustrum Paradysi apud Constantiamfounded in 1186. In 1253 the nuns left their convent on the outskirts of Konstanz and moved toSchlattnearSchaffhausen;while the nameParadiesstuck. The chapel was rebuilt in 1921, it today is consecrated to St Martin.

1847 map with the presumed place of the execution ofJan Hus(encircled)

In 1610, about 300 people were living in Paradies. The farmers in Paradies supplied the inhabitants of the city from their fields on the open space between the current federal road B 33 (Europe Street) and the city walls. Paradies then was a separate municipality. In 1639, the City of Konstanz created a new defensive earth wall and ditch (theSaubach); Paradies was included inside this perimeter. The Paradies part of the structure included two towers, theGrießeggturmat the Gottlieber customs post, and one small castle namedParadieser Schlössle.With the loss of arable land between Paradies and Konstanz, cultivation of vegetables shifted to theTägermoosarea west of Paradies, which was owned by the city of Konstanz, but was administratively in theSwisscanton ofThurgau.

When the city of Constance stopped operating a municipalbull stable,Paradies started its own. By 1880 the population had risen to nearly 1500. Today the number of farmers growing vegetables is steadily declining. In 1969, there were 25 of them in Paradies; in 2006 there were only eight. The last cattle farmer ceased operations in 1994.

Until the summer of 2004, the municipal bus route No. 10 went from the city's cemetery to Paradies. Buses namedFriedhof—Paradies( "Cemetery—Paradise" ) were often photographed.