The Stone Age Westerfeld and Büge shoreline settlements were discovered in 1861 and studied extensively 1981-83, with finds from the Pfyn, Horgen and Corded Ware cultures (4000-2500 BC.)

[3] It was part of the land owned by the monastery of Reichenau, and the abbot was the landlord, judge and appointed the priest for the village.

By the 16th century, Ermatingen was on the way to becoming a town, with a high and low council, a court and various privileges.

After the incorporation of the Abbey of Reichenau into the diocese of Constance in 1540, the lower court rights were held by the Bishop, until 1798.

The parish originally ran by the lake to the Seerücken mountains, and in the High Middle Ages included Mannenbach and Triboltingen.

In the 19th century fishing, cereals grains, fruit, hemp and viticulture were the basis of the villagers economy.

At the end of the 19th century the mechanical embroidery and trans-shipping industries entered the town.

In 1848 a carpentry factory moved into the town, and in 1936 it became the Jacques Goldinger AG company.

In 1875 a tin can and aluminum products factory (Louis Sauter AG) opened in Ermatingen, followed by several other manufacturing companies.

The commercial fisheries have mostly vanished, though some fish breeding and the traditional "Gropp Carnival" remain in town.

Ermatingen has been the meeting location for the Wolfsberg Group, a global banking organization, since its founding in 1999.

[6] The municipality is located in the Kreuzlingen district, on the Untersee section of Lake Constance across from Reichenau Island in Germany.

[6] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (92.3%), with Italian as second most common (2.1%) and Albanian as third (1.1%).

[14] The historical population is given in the following table:[3][15] The Gasthaus Adler, the Kehlhof, the Church of St Albin, and the prehistoric shoreline settlement of Westerfeld/Büge are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance.

[19] From the 2000 census[update], 728 or 30.0% were Roman Catholic, while 1,311 or 54.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

Between spring and autumn, the URh offers regular boat services on the High Rhine and Untersee between Schaffhausen and Kreuzlingen, via Konstanz.

Of the children in kindergarten, 30 or 55.6% were female, 9 or 16.7% were not Swiss citizens and 2 or 3.7% did not speak German natively.

The lower and upper primary levels begin at about age 5-6 and last for 6 years.

At the lower primary level, there were 39 children or 61.9% of the total population who were female, 19 or 30.2% were not Swiss citizens and 7 or 11.1% did not speak German natively.

In the upper primary level, there were 38 or 47.5% who were female, 15 or 18.8% were not Swiss citizens and 6 or 7.5% did not speak German natively.

There were 68 teenagers who were in the advanced school, of which 35 or 51.5% were female, 18 or 26.5% were not Swiss citizens and 6 or 8.8% did not speak German natively.

There were 32 teenagers who were in the standard school, of which 16 or 50.0% were female, 7 or 21.9% were not Swiss citizens and 4 or 12.5% did not speak German natively.

The rate of violations of immigration, visa and work permit laws was 2.3 per thousand residents.