Imperia

A glimpse of spring today, lots of people being outside. It is the same "Imperia" as in the blip 3 weeks ago, guarding over the harbour entry of Konstanz, holding Pope and Emperor on her hands (read here for more details and historical background).

In the little tower beneath the statue is the measuring station of the Lake Constance level, currently at 3,19 meters. Everything normal for this time of the year. If you don't want to get confused, please stop reading here.
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Ok, lake level here is 3,19 meters. How does it compare with the blip entry on Feb 21, showing the lake level around 395 meters ? Quite a difference of more than 390 meters!
Well, it is linked to the fact, that 3 countries are sharing the Lake of Constance and each country has a different zero point. The 3,19 meters is a relative zero point, as the 395 meters are measured towards the sealevel.
To make it a bit  more complicated: The 3 countries even refer to different sea levels: Switzerland to the average sea level in Marseille, Austria to the sea level in Trieste/Italy (plus 7 cm) and Germany to the North Sea near Amsterdam (plus 32 cm !). Here a graphical representation of this confusing stuff.