Bregenz: architecture and music with water as a backdrop

Bregenz is the capital of the Vorarlberg region and has Lake Constance as a distinguishing feature, with its bathing waters and timeless structures for relaxation such as the 'Mili', a historic building on wooden stilts (for a sunset aperitif overlooking the lake, one can go to the Fischersteg-Sunset-Bar, once a fishermen's meeting place). The city's other distinguishing feature is its contemporary architecture, which includes projects by celebrities such as Hans Hollein, Jean Nouvel and Peter Zumthor (his Kunsthaus, which offers a rich programme of exhibitions) and the more recent work of Herzog and de Meuron, two Swiss archistars to whom we owe the 'Stadthotel Kleiner Löwe', a building inaugurated last spring on the central Kornmarktplatz, the social and cultural centre of Bregenz. Not to be missed are the Vorarlberg Museum, with artist Miriam Prantl's installation reflecting the lake's different lighting influences, and the opera festival Bregenzer Festspiele, staged from 17 July to 17 August at the water's edge, on the world's largest floating stage.