Monastic Island of Reicheneau - UNESCO: World Heritage

Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler / Reichenau - English Summary Add. 3
down and added his own Basilica of St. Mark
to Witigowo’s extended nave. It was
consecrated in 1048 by Bishop Dietrich of
Constance, in the presence of Emperor Henry
III.
Additions and alterations since then include
the removal of the towers’ topmost storey
between 1048 and 1172. After 1172 the
nave’s walls were rebuilt over square pillars.
Work on the chancel and the northern
sacristy started in 1447; the chancel was
consecrated in 1477, and the southern
sacristy dates fom 1779. The most recent
work was the restoration work done to the
interior in 1964-70, and to the tower and
westwork in 1984-90.
Description. The whole complex is best seen
from the North. The Gothic chancel is clearly
set apart from the rest of the structure by its
proportions. The oldest surviving part of the
minster, the eastern transepts and the crossing
of Heito’s 9th century basilica, adjoins
Witigowo’s late 10th century nave. Berno’s
Western transepts and tower, erected during
the first half of the 11th century, were clearly
designed to fit the older parts in size and
proportion. The imposing tower is flanked by
narrow porticos with wide arches and pent
roofs that were clearly two-storey in the past.
Despite the complex building history the
interior presents a homogeneous impression.
Three cubes of approximately equal size
make up the Western transepts and crossing;
Decoration. The Renaissance wall paintings
in the chancel (finished in 1555) are by Marx
Weiss. The northern pillar of the crossing
features a niche which used to house a jug
believed to have been used at the Wedding of
Cana. It is in the treasury today; the paintings
date from 1310/20. The wall paintings in the
monks’ chancel are 14th century. The 1498
retable of the high altar is by Rudolf Stahel.
the latter opens onto the semicircular Chancel
of St. Mark on the ground floor of the tower.
The architecture is reminiscent of
contemporary imperial buildings at Limburg
on the Hardt and Speyer. Two spiral staircases
behind the apse lead up to a small room,
probably used as a sacristy, with a window
which may have been used for showing relics
to the churchgoers assembled in the atrium. A
second small window looking inside has
caused the room to be interpreted as a kind of
“box” for the emperor’s use, but it is more
likely that the opening was made when the
apse temporarily acquired an organ balcony.
Like the porticos the Chapel of St. Michael on
the upper floor of the tower once had round
arches opening onto the transepts.
Double arches separate the western transepts
from the aisles; the column supporting the
southern arch is known as the “Witigowo
column” and may be the only original element
surviving from Witigowo’s nave. Where
Abbot Heito I had clearly visualized a
cruciform basilica, its eastern part made up of
squares and cubes recalling the layout of
Byzantine churches, the enlarging of the
monks’ chancel achieved by closing the
eastern arches, and additional walls separating
the transepts from the crossing, effectively
reinterpreted the building. The addition of the
late Gothic chancel completed its
transformation into a church arranged on a
longitudinal axis.
The altar of St. Mark in the western chancel
dates from around 1470; a plain 11th century
sarcophagus is just visible behind the tracery
of the walls. In the north-western transept
there is a late 17th century altar. The panel in
the southern aisle dates from 1624, and
depicts the island and the founding legend of
its monasteries. In the northern aisle a panel
(1738), depicting a procession. On the
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