Reichenau Island

Template:Short description Template:More citations needed {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Infobox islands

Reichenau IslandTemplate:Efn ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) is an island in Lake Constance in Southern Germany. It lies almost due west of the city of Konstanz, between the Gnadensee and the Untersee, two parts of Lake Constance. With a total land surface of Template:Cvt and a circumference of Template:Cvt, the island is Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt wide at its greatest extent. The highest point, the Hochwart, stands some Template:Cvt above the lake surface and Template:Cvt above mean sea level.

Reichenau is connected to the mainland by a causeway, completed in 1838, which is intersected between the ruins of Schopflen Castle and the eastern end of Reichenau Island by a Template:Convert and Template:Convert waterway, the Bruckgraben. A low road bridge allows the passage of ordinary boats but not of sailing-boats.

Reichenau Abbey, founded on the island by bishop Pirmin in 724, quickly developed into an influential religious, cultural, and intellectual center.<ref name = "nominate1">Template:Cite report</ref> Because of its historical importance and the exceptional quality of the architecture and artwork found in the island's three churches and abbey, Reichenau was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000.<ref name = "unesco">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

Although people occupied Reichenau in the Bronze Age and Iron Age, archeological evidence suggests that Reichenau was abandoned during the Roman era.<ref name = "nominate2">Template:Cite report</ref> It remained uninhabited until 724, when the monk Pirmin received support from the Carolingian ruler Charles Martel to build a monastery on the island.<ref name = "nominate1"/> The first monastery, at Mittelzel, was wooden, although it was replaced by a stone building by 746.<ref name = "icomos">Template:Cite report</ref> In the early 9th century, under the patronage of the Carolingian dynasty and Ottonian dynasty, the community flourished. In 816 the monastery church of the by-then abbey, was rebuilt in a cruciform basilica style, and churches dedicated to the Virgin and Saint Mark were consecrated.<ref name = "nominate1"/> Relics of St. Mark arrived at the abbey in the mid-9th century. Two further churches were built on the island consecrated to Saints Peter and Paul (in 799) and to Saint George (in 896).<ref name = "icomos"/>

The abbey's bailiff was housed in a two-storey stone building to which two more storeys of timber framing were added in the 14th century, one of the oldest timber-frame buildings in southern Germany. It is today used as a museum of local history.<ref name = "nominate1"/>

The monastic community of the abbey produced several influential poets and authors, such as Walafrid Strabo (who served as abbot) and scholars such as Hermann of Reichenau and Abbot Reginbert, as well as artists.<ref name = "nominate1"/> The famous artworks of Reichenau include (in the church of St George) the Ottonian murals of miracles of Christ, unique survivals from the 10th century.<ref name = "icomos"/><ref name = "nominate1"/> The Plan of St. Gall, the only surviving architectural drawing from the Middle Ages, may also have been created on the island.<ref name = "nominate1"/> Among the abbey's far-flung landholdings was Reichenau, a village on the upper Rhine in the municipality of Tamins in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, named for the abbey.

In the 16th century, the territory of the Prince-Bishopric of Constance was extended to include Reichenau, and as a result the influence of the abbey waned. During the secularization of the Prince-Bishopric of Constance in 1803, many of the smaller chapels on the island were demolished.<ref name = "icomos"/> In addition, the manuscripts and archives held in the abbey were given to Karlsruhe and the University of Heidelberg library and the surrounding farms were parceled and sold.

Today the island is also famous for its vegetable farms. The Wollmatinger Ried next to the island is a large nature reserve, a wetland area of reeds, which is used by many birds as a stopover during their annual migration.

Transport

Template:Stn is a railway station on the High Rhine Railway line. It is served by regional trains to Template:Stn and Template:Stn, via Template:Stn.

Reichenau has a landing stage. Between spring and autumn, the URh offers regular boat services on the High Rhine and Untersee between Schaffhausen and Kreuzlingen, via Konstanz.

Gallery

• Kirchtürme von St. Peter und Paul (Niederzell) auf der Insel Reichenau im Bodensee.jpg

  15th-century towers on the Romanesque church of Sts Peter and Paul in Reichenau-Niederzell

• Reichenau Sued-West Ufer.JPG

  South West Reichenau Island

• St. Georg Reichenau.JPG

  South East Reichenau Island

• StGeorgReichenau-pjt.jpg

  St. Georg, Reichenau-Oberzell

• Deutsche Alleenstrasse Reichenau.jpg

  Aspen-lined Avenue to Reichenau Island

• Sanktgeorgsundgemüsefelder.jpg

  One of the island's many vegetable fields with Sankt Georg Kirche in the background

External links

• Monastic Island of Reichenau UNESCO Official Website

• Reichenau: monastic island
• Template:In lang History and images
• Reichenau Abbey Church
• Template:CathEncy
• 3 spherical panoramas of St. Georg Church
• Saint George in Overzell in Circulo Romanico page
• Abacial de Santa Maria y San Marcos in Circulo Romanico page
• Iglesia de San Pedro y san Pablo in Circulo Romanico