Constance - University Town
The university of Constance was founded quite recently, in 1966. Differently than in German towns with old universities, like Freiburg, the university of Constance is not situated in the city center, but outside the town, near the suburb Egg. Its advantage is, that all university buildings are quite close to each other. Actually the university is more or less one big building. The drawback is, that it takes you about 20 minutes to get to the historic center of Constance (by bus or by bike). The university of Constance has a good reputation. In 2007 the university was officially classified as one of the best German universities. Most lectures are not as crowded as in many other German universities.It has about 10.000 students.
the HTWG (former Fachhochschule)
There is a second more practically oriented university in Constance. It is situated at the river Rhine. And it's not far from the city center. The HTWG has about 4.000 students.
Student life in Constance
In winter Constance is quite grey and often foggy. So, students are not distracted from learning. Honestly speaking, winter time usually is quite dull in Constance. Summer is very different. There is the lake and everyone is glad to live in such a beautiful place as Constance. A very important qualification for students in Constance is to be able to learn outside, at the beach. Other wise, even summer can be a hard time in Constance, if you should study and everyone is going to the beach.
Nightlife is quite good for a town with 80.000 inhabitants. There are some nice pubs. In summer you can spent your time in beer gardens near the lake or near the river Rhine. There also are several discos in Constance. But they are situated in the industrial area. And in the past years there have constantly been problems with violence. It is rather dangerous to get to the discos and to get away from them.
Constance is a great place for everyone who loves sport. In summer, you can swim in the lake, there are good bycicle paths and if you like hiking: There is a really nice area in the Swiss Alps which is about 2 hours away (by train), the "Alpstein".
