Monastic Island of Reicheneau - UNESCO: World Heritage

of Constance, who governed the monastery
in the spirit of its great past, one
might say, on behalf of Saint Pirmin who,
as the legend says, converted the island
from a wilderness to a center of Benedictine
culture, until the monastery was finally
dissolved during Secularization at
the beginning of the 19th century.
The following factors contribute to the
outstanding stature and value of the Reichenau:
1. The topographical situation as an island
in Lake Constance, which was
causal to, and then conditioned the remarkable
historical, cultural and religious
unit represented by the Reichenau.
2. The monuments themselves serve as a
cultural document illustrating the origins
and development of the monastic
island.
3. The standing monuments, which are to
be found over the whole island, seen in
conjunction with the extant archaeological
remains and the historical documents
offer a unique insight into the
medieval world.
These monuments, so well preserved and
in such a clearly defined topographical
and historico-cultural context as the monastic
island form an ensemble which is
unique in Europe north of the Alps. Moreover,
seen as a whole, the monuments take
on a significance far greater than the sum
of the parts, illustrating and reflecting the
shaping and the history of Europe over the
last millennium. For Reichenau is a site of
pan-European importance. The individual
outstanding complexes and monuments,
which are embedded in the cultural organism
of the monastic island, the face of
which is still shaped by traditional cultivation
methods like horticulture and winegrowing,
are as follows:
I. The former Benedictine Monastery in
Reichenau-Mittelzell
It was in the early 8 th century, in 724 as the
monastic tradition says, that the itinerant
bishop Pirmin founded a monastery on
the largests island in Lake Constance,
which within a few decades grew to become
one of the most significant monastic
centers of Charlemagne’s Frankish Empire,
i. e. of the whole of Central and Western
Europe. The roots of the modern ensemble,
an essentially intact cultural, topographic
and economic unit, are here to
be found: Pirmin was assigned the whole
of the then uninhabited island in the Untersee
(Lower Lake) as the place for his future
monastery by Charles Martell, Supreme
Ruler of France and grand-father of
Charlemagne. The huge panel painting in
the Reichenau Minster, created in 1624 on
the occasion of the 9 th centenary of its
foundation summarizes this in an impressive
manner.
Under the soil of the central monastic
premises in Reichenau-Mittelzell, situated
on the northern island shore in a sheltered
bay, and used as a natural harbor lie the
remains of the wooden buildings of
Pirmin’s monastery. The Minster of St.
Maria und Markus (St. Mary and St. Mark)
which stands over the founder’s church,
represents the center of the monastic
buildings which are still preserved. The
Minster can be viewed as a microcosm encapsulating
the entire history of the monastic
island. The earliest building phases
of the 8 th century, revealed by archaelogical
excavation, were followed by Abbot
Heito’s cruciform basilica, consecrated
816, the eastern parts of which are still
preserved within the modern structure.
This building plays an important role in
the art-historical discussion about the
development of medieval religious architecture.
Together with Abbot Bern’s Markuskirche
(St. Mark’s Church), consecrated
in 1048, the Heito Basilica shapes the
Minster’s appearance today. The open roof
construction in the shape of an inverse
ship’s hull of 1236 and the luminous
Gothic choir of the 15 th century are later
details. The tombs of great noblemen
from the court of Charlemagne, of Emperor
Charles III as well as those of several
Swabian Dukes powerfully illustrate the
Reichenau’s rank as a political authority in
this early period.
The medieval monastic buildings extended
from the north side of the minster almost
to the shore of the Gnadensee (Lake
of Mercy). The west wing, with its east
wall dating back to the 8 th century, is still
preserved. After the abbey was incorporated
into the prince-bishopric of Constance,
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