Follow the poplar-lined causeway stretching more than a kilometer from the mainland near Konstanz across the calm waters of the Untersee (the western arm of Lake Constance, known in German as the Bodensee, right along the border between Germany and Switzerland), and you will step onto a green island covered with vegetable fields, vineyards and traditional herb gardens. Amid the quiet expanse of the lake reflecting the distant Alps to the south, three groups of ancient stone bell towers rise at the western tip, the center and the eastern end of the island: Niederzell, Mittelzell and Oberzell. This is the Monastic Island of Reichenau (Klosterinsel Reichenau), one of the most important spiritual and scholarly cradles of Catholicism in the medieval West.
Beginning in the year 724 when the itinerant missionary bishop Saint Pirmin arrived with forty Benedictine monks to clear the wild island, Reichenau rose to become a great monastic academy and scriptorium of illuminated manuscripts throughout the Carolingian and Ottonian eras from the 8th to the 11th centuries. It houses the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist and the Relic of the Precious Blood of Christ, and is the birthplace of both Europe's first gardening poem, Hortulus, and the beloved Marian antiphon Salve Regina.
ISaint Pirmin, the Ottonian scriptorium and the great monastic scholars
In the history of early medieval European monasticism, Reichenau Abbey (known in Latin as Monasterium Augiense or Augia Dives, meaning Rich Meadow) stood alongside the Abbey of Saint Gall in Switzerland and Fulda Abbey as one of the three spiritual pillars of the Frankish Empire. According to the foundation legend of the island (originally called Sintlas-Au or Sindleozesauua after the Alemannic nobleman Sintlas who lived at Sandeck Castle on the opposite Swiss shore), when Saint Pirmin (Heiliger Pirminius) first set foot on the island in 724, it was covered with dense primeval forest full of venomous snakes, toads and insects. At the very spot where his foot touched the ground, a clear spring gushed forth (still remembered at the Pirminsbrunnen well), and for three days all the snakes and vermin swam across the lake away from the island, allowing the Benedictine monks to clear the forest and build their first chapel.
The life of the monks on Reichenau followed the Rule of Saint Benedict (Regula Benedicti) and its motto Pray and work (Ora et labora). For the island abbey, manual labor went beyond farming and growing medicinal herbs to reach its highest artistic expression in copying and illuminating sacred manuscripts in the scriptorium. Every stroke of the quill written in gold ink and ground lapis lazuli on vellum was regarded by the monks as a prayer honoring the Word of God, turning the liturgical Gospel book into a visible manifestation of heavenly light.
Under the direct patronage of the Carolingian rulers (beginning with the visit of Charlemagne and Queen Hildegard in 780, echoing the imperial ties of Aachen Cathedral) and later the Ottonian emperors (Otto I, Otto II, Otto III and Henry II), Reichenau Abbey gathered some of the most learned minds of the Middle Ages:
First were Abbot Waldo (who governed from 786 to 806 and later became Abbot of Saint-Denis near Paris) and Abbot Haito (who governed from 806 to 823, also serving as Bishop of Basel and Charlemagne's envoy to Constantinople in 811). Under Abbot Haito, around 820 to 830, the monks of Reichenau drew the famous Plan of Saint Gall (St. Galler Klosterplan) for Abbot Gozbert, the only surviving major architectural drawing on parchment from the early Middle Ages in the West. In 824, the abbey compiled the Reichenau Confraternity Book (Reichenauer Verbrüderungsbuch), recording nearly 40,000 names of monks, rulers and benefactors across Europe to be remembered in perpetual prayer.
Second was the poet and scholar Walahfrid Strabo (born around 808 or 809, died 849, serving as Abbot of Reichenau from 838 to 849). Former tutor to Charles the Bald (grandson of Charlemagne), Walahfrid Strabo composed a Latin poem of 444 hexameters titled Liber de cultura hortorum (popularly known as Hortulus, meaning The Little Garden) around the year 840. The work describes in vivid detail the medicinal uses and symbolic meanings of 24 herbs and plants grown in the Reichenau monastery garden (including sage, rue, mint, fennel, lily and rose), and is celebrated by historians of science as the first European gardening and herbal manual of the Middle Ages.
Third was the brilliant disabled scholar Hermannus Contractus (Hermann der Lahme, or Blessed Hermann the Lame, 1013 to 1054). Paralyzed from early childhood by a congenital condition that left him unable to walk and barely able to speak clearly, Hermann was entrusted to Reichenau Abbey at the age of seven by his father, Count Wolferad. Working from a carrying chair for more than thirty years on the island, he mastered Latin, Greek and Arabic, wrote the most accurate World Chronicle (Chronicon) of the 11th century, composed mathematical treatises and instructions for building the astronomical astrolabe, devised a system of musical notation, and is traditionally credited with composing two immortal Marian antiphons: Salve Regina (Hail, Holy Queen) and Alma Redemptoris Mater.
Fourth was the Reichenau School of Illumination (Reichenauer Malschule) of the 10th and 11th centuries. This workshop produced imperial illuminated manuscripts for the Holy Roman Emperors and Popes, including masterpieces such as the Codex Egberti (made for Archbishop Egbert of Trier, associated with the see of Trier Cathedral), the Gospel Book of Otto III, the Bamberg Apocalypse and the Pericopes of Henry II. In 2003, ten principal manuscripts from the Reichenau scriptorium were inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.
Visitors to the island often ask why the gold-illuminated manuscripts of Reichenau are no longer kept in the island's churches today, but are preserved instead in the Bavarian State Library in Munich, the State Library in Bamberg, Trier or Darmstadt. The reason is that these luxury codices were commissioned in the Middle Ages by emperors and bishops as gifts for major cathedrals across the empire, while the remaining monastic library on the island was transferred to the Baden State Library in Karlsruhe and Heidelberg University Library when the abbey was dissolved in 1757 and 1803.
IIThirteen centuries from the charter of 724 to the minor basilica of 2024
The history of the Monastic Island of Reichenau mirrors the rise of Western Christian civilization from the missionary era around Lake Constance to the golden age of the Holy Roman Empire.
- 25 April 724Saint Pirmin founds the Benedictine Abbey of ReichenauAccording to the foundation charter dated 25 April 724, under the patronage of the Frankish Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel and Duke Lantfrid of Alemannia, Saint Pirmin and 40 monks build the first wooden monastery at Mittelzell.
- 799 and 816Foundation of Niederzell Church and consecration of the Mittelzell MinsterIn 799, Bishop Egino of Verona retires to a monastic cell at the western tip of the island and founds St. Peter's Church at Niederzell. On 16 August 816, Abbot Haito consecrates the cruciform Carolingian Basilica of St. Mary at Mittelzell.
- 830 and 925Arrival of the relics of Saint Mark and the Precious Blood of ChristIn 830, Bishop Radolt of Verona brings relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist from Venice to Reichenau. In 925, the noblewoman Swanahild donates the Byzantine reliquary cross containing the Relic of the Precious Blood of Christ (Heilig-Blut-Reliquie) to the abbey.
- 888 and ca. 896Burial of Emperor Charles III and founding of St. George's Church at OberzellIn January 888, Carolingian Emperor Charles III (Charles the Fat, great-grandson of Charlemagne) dies and is buried in the choir of the Mittelzell Minster. Between 888 and 900, Abbot Hatto III builds St. George's Church at Oberzell to house the skull relic of Saint George received in Rome in 896.
- 24 April 1048Consecration of the expanded Minster under Abbot Berno and Emperor Henry IIIAbbot Berno completes the monumental western transept and west tower of the Mittelzell Minster, consecrating it in the presence of Holy Roman Emperor Henry III. During these same decades, Hermannus Contractus completes his scientific and liturgical works on the island.
- 1757 and 1803Dissolution of the abbey during secularizationHaving been incorporated into the Bishopric of Konstanz in 1540, the monastic community is dissolved in 1757 and the last monks leave the island in 1803, though all three churches and their liturgical treasury are preserved by the local parishes.
- 2000, 2001 and 2003UNESCO World Heritage inscription and return of Benedictine monastic lifeIn 2000, UNESCO inscribes the Monastic Island of Reichenau as a World Heritage Site (Ref. 974). In 2001, after nearly 250 years, Benedictine monks return to establish the Cella Sankt Benedikt community at Niederzell. In 2003, ten Reichenau manuscripts enter the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.
- April 20241,300th anniversary celebration and elevation to Minor BasilicaMarking the 1,300th anniversary of Saint Pirmin's foundation (724 to 2024), Pope Francis elevates the Minster of St. Mary and St. Mark at Mittelzell to the rank of Minor Basilica (Basilica minor).
Regarding the construction history and mural dating of St. George's Church at Oberzell, historical and art-historical sources record two notable scholarly debates. First, concerning the founder of the church: the 15th-century abbey chronicle by Gallus Oehem states that St. George's Church already existed under Abbot Ruadhelm (838 to 842) and had been founded by Abbot Haito (806 to 823), whereas modern historians and archaeologists agree that the actual builder was Abbot Hatto III (who governed from 888 to 913 and also served as Archbishop of Mainz) around 888 to 900, following his receipt of the skull relic of Saint George from Pope Formosus in Rome in 896. Second, concerning the date of the eight murals of the Miracles of Christ in the nave at Oberzell: one school of art historians dates the frescoes to the late 9th century (immediately after construction under Hatto III), while another school compares their style with Ottonian manuscript illuminations and dates them to the second half of the 10th century (between 950 and 1000). Under either dating, they remain the only complete cycle of pre-1000 church wall paintings surviving north of the Alps.
IIIThree 9th to 11th century Romanesque churches and the Treasury of Relics
The outstanding universal value that led UNESCO to inscribe the entire Monastic Island of Reichenau as a World Heritage Site lies in the fact that on a small island measuring about 4.3 kilometers long and 1.5 kilometers wide, three churches in the three districts of Mittelzell (center), Oberzell (eastern end) and Niederzell (northwestern tip) preserve intact three consecutive stages of Carolingian, Ottonian and Romanesque church architecture from the 9th to the 11th centuries.
The main abbey church, built in stone under Abbot Haito (consecrated in 816, with the Carolingian crossing and eastern transept still standing) and expanded with the western transept and striped sandstone west tower under Abbot Berno (consecrated in 1048). Its interior is famous for its open barrel-shaped oak roof structure (1236 to 1237) resembling an inverted ship's hull, its Late Gothic polygonal choir (1443 to 1477) containing the tomb slab of Emperor Charles III (888), and the adjoining monastery wing now serving as the island's town hall.
Located in the sacristy building of the Mittelzell Minster, preserving the Byzantine cross containing the Relic of the Precious Blood of Christ (Heilig-Blut-Reliquie, brought to the island in 925 and set inside a jeweled gilt-silver Baroque monstrance of 1738), the gilt-silver reliquary shrine of Saint Mark the Evangelist (Markusschrein, made around 1303), the shrines of Saints Januarius, Fortunata and Pelagius, and a 5th-century marble pitcher long venerated as one of the water jars from the Wedding at Cana.
Standing on a small hill near the eastern tip of the island, built around 888 to 900 as a three-aisled pre-Romanesque column basilica with a square crossing tower, a rounded western apse (added between 925 and 945) and an early 11th-century low western narthex topped by St. Michael's Chapel. Beneath the eastern choir lies an ancient square crypt supported by four stone columns, originally built to house the skull relic of Saint George.
Along both high walls of the 19-meter-long nave of St. George's Church are eight monumental fresco panels (each over 4 meters wide) painted in the late 9th or 10th century, framed by illusionistic 3D meander borders and Latin verse inscriptions (Tituli). The north wall (facing the lake waters) depicts four miracles linked to water and light: Healing of the Gerasene demoniac, Healing of the man with dropsy, Calming of the storm on the Sea of Galilee and Healing of the man born blind. The south wall (facing the old cemetery) depicts four miracles of healing and raising the dead: Cleansing of the leper, Raising of the young man of Nain, Raising of Jairus's daughter and Raising of Lazarus.
Standing right by the water's edge at the northwestern tip of the island, originally founded in 799 by Bishop Egino of Verona (whose tomb rests in the choir). The present building is a three-aisled column basilica without a transept rebuilt between 1080 and 1134 on the Carolingian foundations, flanked by twin eastern towers. Its main apse preserves a magnificent late 11th or early 12th century Romanesque mural of Christ in Majesty (Majestas Domini) above the Apostles and Prophets.
Directly beside the north wall of the choir of the Mittelzell Minster lies the recreated monastic herb garden growing the exact 24 medicinal plants praised by Abbot Walahfrid Strabo in his poem Hortulus in 840, next to the historic half-timbered buildings of the Reichenau Museum displaying facsimiles of the illuminated manuscripts and archaeological finds.
When viewing the Minster of St. Mary and St. Mark at Mittelzell from the west, many visitors are struck by the massive western tower (Westwerk) built with alternating horizontal courses of pale yellow sandstone and darkfield stones, closely resembling the Romanesque architecture of Lombardy in northern Italy. In fact, the abbots and bishops associated with Reichenau during the Carolingian and Ottonian periods, including Egino, Radolt, Haito and Berno, maintained close ties with northern Italian cities such as Verona, Pavia and Venice, bringing stonemasons and muralists across the Alps to work on the island in Lake Constance.
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
One point should be stated clearly at the outset: Catholicism does not teach East Asian feng shui. Saint Pirmin's choice of Reichenau Island in 724 grew out of the early medieval Irish and Frankish monastic tradition of seeking island solitude (much like Lindisfarne or Iona), and all three churches are oriented according to Christian liturgical rules. The observations below offer a comparative reading through the lens of the library's traditional landform method.
The Monastic Island of Reichenau lies at central coordinates 47.6989 degrees north latitude and 9.0625 degrees east longitude, encircled by the waters of the Untersee (the western basin of Lake Constance / Bodensee, at a water elevation of about 395 meters above sea level). After flowing down from the Alps through the upper lake (Obersee) and the city of Konstanz via the short Seerhein channel, the mighty Rhine River enters the Untersee and divides into broad arms that embrace all four sides of Reichenau Island: to the north lies the bay of the Gnadensee (meaning Lake of Grace) and the protected wetlands of the Wollmatinger Ried, while to the south flows the main current of the Rhine and the Zeller See separating the island from the hills of Thurgau in Switzerland. In traditional landform reading, a fertile island rising in the midst of a vast, sheltered freshwater lake where a great river slows and gathers before exiting at Stein am Rhein exemplifies the pattern of water embracing a pearl island, with bright halls (minh đường) gathering on all four sides.
In terms of the dragon vein (long mạch) and the island's internal topography, Reichenau is a diamond-shaped glacial moraine ridge stretching along a southeast-to-northwest axis, rising gently along its spine to the summit of Hochwart Hill (438.7 meters above sea level, or about 43 meters above the lake surface). Because the immense water mass of Lake Constance moderates temperatures and reflects sunlight, combined with warm Föhn winds descending from the Alps, the island enjoys an unusually mild microclimate where vines, vegetables and medicinal herbs flourish, true to the name Reichenau (Rich Meadow).
What is remarkable in the sacred spatial planning of the medieval monks is the triad of three churches anchoring three key nodes (huyệt) along the spine of the island: at the southeastern tip (receiving the causeway from the mainland) stands St. George's Church at Oberzell on a small knoll by the shore as a front screen (tiền án) guarding the gateway, at the broadest and flattest center of the island stands the Minster of St. Mary and St. Mark at Mittelzell as the central heart node, and at the northwestern tip jutting into the Zeller See stands St. Peter and St. Paul's Church at Niederzell as the rear backing (hậu chẩm) locking the water outlet. All three churches strictly follow the traditional west-to-east liturgical axis, forming a continuous sacred line across the length of the island between sky and water.
VThe three unique island relic processions (Inselfeiertage)
Unlike almost any other municipality in Germany, the community on Reichenau Island has for centuries observed three special Island Feast Days (Reichenauer Inselfeiertage) according to the Gregorian calendar and the Catholic liturgical year. On these three days, schools, shops and businesses across the island close, residents wear traditional attire, and the historical civic guard (Historische Bürgerwehr) escorts the gilt-silver reliquary shrines in solemn procession along the flag-lined avenues of the island.
| Date | Calendar | Island feast day | Liturgical rites and relic processions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 April each year | Gregorian calendar | Feast of Saint Mark (Markusfest) | The first great island holiday of the year, commemorating the translation of the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist from Venice to Reichenau in 830. Following Pontifical Mass at the Mittelzell Minster, the early 14th-century Shrine of St. Mark and other reliquaries are carried in procession across the island to bless the fields. |
| Monday after Trinity Sunday (late May or June) | Gregorian calendar (Easter cycle) | Feast of the Precious Blood (Heilig-Blut-Fest) | The most solemn and widely attended feast on the island, honoring the Relic of the Precious Blood of Christ brought to Reichenau in 925. Preceded by Vespers and the exposition of the relic on Trinity Sunday afternoon, Monday morning features a solemn Pontifical Mass and a grand procession carrying the Precious Blood monstrance along flower-carpeted streets. |
| 15 August each year | Gregorian calendar | Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Mariä Himmelfahrt) | The original patronal feast of the Minster of St. Mary at Mittelzell (consecrated on 16 August 816). Marked by the traditional blessing of fragrant herb bundles (Kräuterbüschel) harvested from the island's gardens in the spirit of Abbot Walahfrid Strabo, followed by a festive relic procession. |
| 3 November each year | Gregorian calendar | Feast of Saint Pirmin (Pirminsfest) | The feast day commemorating Saint Pirmin, founder of Reichenau Abbey in 724, celebrated with festive services and cultural gatherings on the island. |
For Vietnamese Catholic faithful and visitors living in Baden-Württemberg (such as Stuttgart, Freiburg, Ulm and Konstanz) as well as northern Switzerland, the Monastic Island of Reichenau is a cherished spring and summer pilgrimage and cultural destination, often visited alongside the Baroque pilgrimage basilica of Birnau on the northern shore of Lake Constance or the Shrine of Our Lady of Altötting in Bavaria.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Getting there
- From the city of Konstanz, visitors can take the Seehas regional train to Reichenau (Baden) station on the mainland and board bus line 7372 across the 1.3-kilometer causeway directly to the center of the island (Mittelzell). From spring to autumn, passenger boats on the Untersee also connect Konstanz, Radolfzell and the historic Swiss town of Stein am Rhein directly to the pier on the southern shore of Reichenau Island.
- Coordinates
- 47.6989, 9.0625
To protect the more than thousand-year-old natural mineral pigments of the eight frescoes of Christ's miracles in St. George's Church at Oberzell from breath humidity and light, entry into the main nave is limited to scheduled conservation viewing times, and photography or touching the ancient plaster walls is strictly prohibited (visitors may view the nave through the glass partition in the western narthex at other times). At the Minster of St. Mary and St. Mark at Mittelzell, visitors are asked to maintain quiet when visiting the Treasury (Schatzkammer) and to take time to stroll through the Hortulus herb garden beside the north wall of the church.
Nearby places in the library
VIIContribute To This Page
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Góp ảnh, thông tin hoặc video cho Đảo Tu viện Reichenau trên Hồ Constance (Klosterinsel Reichenau)Everyone is welcome to enrich this page: a photo you took, a detail the page misses, a short video. Every contribution is read and answered.
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?Quick Questions
Who founded the Monastic Island of Reichenau and in what year?
The Benedictine monastery on Reichenau Island was founded on 25 April 724 by the itinerant missionary bishop Saint Pirmin (Saint Pirminius) and 40 monks under the patronage of the Frankish Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel and Duke Lantfrid of Alemannia.
Which three historic churches make up the UNESCO World Heritage site on Reichenau Island?
They are the three Romanesque churches representing 9th to 11th century architecture in the island's three districts: the Minster of St. Mary and St. Mark at Mittelzell (consecrated in 816 and 1048), the Church of St. George at Oberzell (late 9th century) and the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Niederzell (founded in 799 and rebuilt between 1080 and 1134).
Why are the wall paintings in St. George's Church at Oberzell famous across Europe?
The eight large fresco scenes on the nave walls of St. George's Church at Oberzell (depicting eight miracles of Christ healing the sick, calming the storm at sea and raising the dead) were painted in the late 9th or 10th century and represent the only complete cycle of pre-1000 church wall paintings surviving north of the Alps.
What sacred relics are preserved in the Treasury of the Mittelzell Minster?
The Treasury (Schatzkammer) of the Mittelzell Minster preserves the Byzantine cross containing the Relic of the Precious Blood of Christ (brought to the island in 925), the gilt-silver reliquary shrine of Saint Mark the Evangelist (brought from Venice in 830, shrine crafted around 1303) and several other 14th-century reliquaries.
Which figures of Reichenau Abbey are associated with the poem Hortulus and the hymn Salve Regina?
Europe's first medieval gardening and herbal poem, Hortulus (describing 24 medicinal plants around 840), was composed by Abbot Walahfrid Strabo of Reichenau, while the Marian antiphon Salve Regina is traditionally associated with the abbey's brilliant disabled scholar Blessed Hermannus Contractus (1013 to 1054).