Monastic Island of Reichenau
For more than 1,000 years, the
Benedictine complex on Reichenau Island in Lake Constance (the Bodensee)
in southern Germany was an important religious site on the main trade
route between Italy and Germany. It has been listed by UNESCO as a World
Heritage Site because of its importance both as the best preserved
ancient monastery north of the Alps and its role in the development of
Christian art.
The monastery was founded by
St Pirmin in 724 and the oldest remaining part of the church was
consecrated in 816. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, it was home to
an extensive library and a scriptorium where some of the best illuminated
manuscripts of the period were created. It was an important educational
center for the empire's elite, received royal patronage - Emperor Charles
III is buried here - and was gifted many important relics, some of which
are still held in the monastic treasury. As well as the abbey church (St
Maria und Markus), there are two other important churches on the island.
St Georg, in Oberzell, dates back to the late ninth century and has the
oldest and most complete Ottonian murals north of the Alps, showing the
miracles of Christ. St Peter und St Pau, in Niederzell was built in the
eleventh and twelfth centuries and is noted for the painting in the apse.
The island's museum is housed
in a twelfth-fifteenth-century building, which is one of the oldest
half-timbered buildings in southern Germany. In the past it has served as
the monastery bailiff's court and the town hall. As well as telling the
story of the monastery, it has exhibits about life on this tranquil
island and the surrounding area.
