Monastic Island of Reichenau
Three Romanesque churches from the 9th to the 11th century attest to the significance of the former Benedictine abbey on the Monastic Island of Reichenau in Baden-Württemberg. Founded in 724, it quickly developed into one of the most important monasteries in southern Germany. The monastic tradition can still be seen today in the unique religious festivals and processions that take place on the island.
The monastery itself was dissolved in 1803 and today the building serves as the town hall for the district of Reichenau. The actual UNESCO World Heritage site comprises the three Romanesque churches on the island, which were intellectual outposts of the western world at the time of the Carolingians and Ottonians. Their wall paintings show how significant Reichenau was as an artistic centre during the 10th and 11th century. The triple-naved Minster of St. Mary and St. Mark, formerly the monastery church, is today a Catholic parish church. In the St. Peter and Paul Church, consecrated in 799, the magnificent organ and Romanesque paintings are well worth seeing. Even older are the monumental Ottonian murals in the Church of St. George, the sole surviving example north of the Alps of a church interior from the 10th century that has been painted in its entirety.
Another significant artefact from the artistic history of the High Middle Ages are the unique Reichenau manuscripts with their narrative illustrations of the New Testament and the lives of Jesus and the Gospels. In 2003 the monastery’s illuminated manuscripts were entered into UNESCO’s Memory of the World register.
These amazing works can be seen in the Reichenau Museum, where other exhibits show the construction history of the cathedral and the monastery, the poems of the monk Walahfrid Strabo, the Plan of Saint Gall, which was drawn on Reichenau, and other chapters from history.
Monastic Island of Reichenau
UNESCO World Heritage since 2000
From the selection criteria
The monastery island is a masterpiece of human creative genius and represents an extraordinary example of an integrated group of medieval churches that
have preserved elements of Carolingian, Ottonian and Salian architecture.
Information and Contact
Tourist-Information Reichenau
Pirminstraße 145
78479 Reichenau
Tel. +49 7534-92 07 0