Since 1573, there has been a tradition of carrying a bust of St. John the Evangelist in a solemn procession across the ice to the other side (usually between Hagnau in Germany and Münsterlingen in Switzerland). The bust remains in the church on the other side until the next time the lake completely freezes over.
The Design: It is a semi-open, circular pavilion that serves as a memorial to these historic events. The last time this occurred was in the winter of 1963.
The current memorial at the Mole Fischbach was erected to commemorate the last major freeze-over and was unveiled in 2014 (on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the last Seegfrörne of 1963).
Since the year 875, Lake Constance has completely frozen over 37 times. The tradition of the Eisprozession (ice procession) with the bust of St. John the Evangelist began in 1573.