ÖSTERREICH	AUSTRIA
Bundesland: Vorarlberg
Bezirk: Bregenz

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Glass no. 4100 [below] is a souvenir from Bregenz. The groupd of buildings depicted in the background, on the shore of Lake Constance, are part of Lochau, described here.

Lochau is situated at an elevation of 416 m at the eastern shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee) between Bregenz and the border to Germany. The municipality has a population of about 6,200 (2021).

The earliest written mention of Lochin dates from 1186. Together with the second part of the Bregenz domains, Lochau became part of Habsburg Austria in 1523. Like other areas that today are in Austria's state of Vorarlberg, Lochau during this period was administered either by Tyrol or as part of Anterior Austria (Further Austria) (see map). Between 1805 and 1814 it was part of Bavaria. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna returned the area to Austria.

The former Strand-Palast-Hotel [background centre] was originally built as a sanatorium after 1905. In 1910, it was remodeled as a Hotel, which was enlarged in 1912. After the bankrupt of the original ownerin 1917 it was reopened in 1918. In 1938 it served as a shelter home for refugees from the 'Sudetenland', the German-speaking areas of Czechoslovakia that were annexed by Nazi Germany. In 1939 the hotel was acquired by the German customs administrations, which from 1940 used the building as academy. Between 1942 and 1945 it served as a military hospital, and after World War II it was used by the French occupation troops. Between 1954 and 1998 it finally served as army barracks of the Austrian army. In 2005 it was sold to private investors and in 2010 it opened again as a hotel, the Seehotel Am Kaiserstrand.

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lochau; https://www.seehotel-kaiserstrand.com/hotel-bodensee/unterkunft/geschichte]

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