Reichenau Island

A monastery was founded on Reichenau in 724 and became one of the leading centres of learning in the Carolingian empire, with a scriptorium producing illuminated manuscripts of the Ottonian period that are now in libraries across Europe and listed by UNESCO in the Memory of the World register. Three Romanesque churches survive: the minster at Mittelzell, St George at Oberzell with a rare cycle of tenth-century wall paintings of Christ's miracles, and St Peter and Paul at Niederzell. UNESCO listed the island in 2000. Today it is mainly a market garden island, with greenhouses covering much of the land and vegetables sold across the region.

History

People lived on Reichenau in the Bronze and Iron Ages, but the island seems to have been empty in Roman times until 724, when the monk Pirmin, backed by Charles Martel, founded a monastery here, wooden at first and of stone by 746. Under the Carolingians and Ottonians it flourished: the abbey church was rebuilt in 816, the churches of Saints Peter and Paul and of Saint George were consecrated in 799 and 896, and the community produced writers and scholars such as Walafrid Strabo and Hermann of Reichenau, while the Ottonian murals of Christ's miracles in St George are unique survivals of the 10th century. In the 16th century Reichenau passed to the Prince-Bishopric of Constance and the abbey declined, and at the secularisation of 1803 many chapels were pulled down and the manuscripts went to Karlsruhe and Heidelberg; the causeway to the mainland was completed in 1838 (Wikipedia, Reichenau Island).

What you'll find

• The three Romanesque churches - Mittelzell, Oberzell and Niederzell.
• The tenth-century paintings - a miracle cycle on the walls of St George.
• The market gardens - greenhouses and vegetable fields across the island.
• The manuscript story - a scriptorium whose books are now spread worldwide.

When to go

April to October; churches close for a midday break and during services. The island is flat and easily cycled. Summer brings vegetable stalls at the gate.

Practical notes

The manuscripts are not on the island; the museum shows facsimiles. Much of the island is working greenhouse, not scenic. Churches keep short hours.

Nearby

Konstanz lies east; the Swiss shore is south.

Key facts