Reichenau Abbey

Listen first. Water laps against the shore, a breeze moves through rows of lettuce, and somewhere a church bell sounds across flat green fields. Under your feet the ground is low and soft, barely above the level of the lake. This is the island of Reichenau, a strip of land in Lake Constance, on the edge of southern Germany. It seems a quiet place for some of the most important work of the medieval world. Yet for several centuries, this small island was a centre of European learning.

The story begins in the year 724. A wandering monk named Pirmin came to the island and founded a monastery here. Little is known about his early life, and historians still debate where he came from. Legend has it that the island was full of snakes when he arrived, and that they fled into the lake at his coming. That part is folklore. The monastery, however, was very real, and it soon followed the Rule of Saint Benedict.

Why here? An island offered something precious to a monastic community — separation. The lake was a natural wall against the outside world. At the same time, Lake Constance sat close to routes between the German lands, Switzerland and Italy. Monks, pilgrims, scholars and kings could reach Reichenau. So the island was both apart from the world and connected to it. That balance helped the abbey grow rich, respected and influential.

The abbey's high point came in the ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries. In this period Reichenau had powerful patrons among the rulers of the Carolingian and later the Ottonian empires. The Ottonians were a dynasty of German kings and emperors in the tenth and early eleventh centuries. The abbots here advised rulers, and the monastery held wide lands. Its library and school drew students from far away. For a time, few places north of the Alps could match it.

One of the most famous minds of that era was Walahfrid Strabo, abbot in the ninth century. He wrote a Latin poem about a small garden, usually called the Hortulus. In it he describes plants one by one — their scent, their uses, the labour of growing them. Here is the first surprise for many visitors. That modest poem is one of the earliest works on gardening from medieval Europe. And today this island is still known for its gardens and vegetables.

The second great name is Hermann of Reichenau, who lived in the eleventh century. He had a severe physical disability from childhood and could barely move or speak clearly. Even so, he became a respected scholar of astronomy, mathematics, music and history. He wrote a chronicle of world events and works on instruments for measuring time and the stars. Some traditions credit him with famous hymns, though scholars treat those attributions with caution. His life shows how far learning could reach from this small island.

Now look at the churches themselves. Reichenau has three main medieval churches, each in a different part of the island. In Mittelzell, the central district, stands the minster of Saint Mary and Saint Mark. This was the heart of the abbey. Its heavy western tower and plain walls belong to the early Romanesque style — that is, the round-arched, solid architecture of Europe before the Gothic period. The building grew in stages over several centuries, and you can see different phases in its stone.

Inside the minster, notice the wooden roof and the simple, open space. Later additions sit beside very old structures. The church also holds a treasury with reliquaries — decorated containers for the remains of saints. According to an old tradition, relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist came to the island in the ninth century. Venice also claims Saint Mark, of course, and historians are careful about the story. On the island, though, the tradition is still honoured with church festivals.

At the eastern end of the island, in Oberzell, is the church of Saint George. Many visitors arrive here without knowing what waits inside. On the walls of the nave are large paintings showing the miracles of Christ. They are usually dated to around the late tenth century. That makes them some of the oldest surviving large wall paintings north of the Alps. The colours have faded, but the figures still move clearly across the walls.

Take a moment with those painted scenes. Figures raise their hands, crowds gather, a boat sails on a stormy sea. The painters used strong outlines and simple gestures so that people could read the stories from a distance. Most people in that time could not read text. These walls were a way to tell sacred stories in pictures. Standing beneath them, you see almost the same images a medieval villager would have seen.

The abbey was also famous for its books. In the Ottonian period, painters and scribes here produced manuscripts of extraordinary quality, decorated with gold and deep colours. Many were made for emperors and bishops. Today most of these books are kept in libraries far from Reichenau, in cities such as Munich. Several of them are recognised by UNESCO's Memory of the World programme. So the island's finest treasures now travel the world in exhibitions and reproductions.

At the western end of the island, in Niederzell, stands the church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, with two towers rising above the shore. It completes the trio. After its golden age, the abbey slowly lost power. In the sixteenth century it came under the control of the bishops of nearby Konstanz, and monastic life faded. In the early nineteenth century the abbey was dissolved during the great secularisation of church lands in Germany. In 2000 the island was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Today Reichenau is a place of farms as well as churches. Greenhouses shine in the sun. Fields of salad, tomatoes and herbs run right up to the old walls. Many families here have grown vegetables for generations. In a way, Walahfrid's little garden never really ended. The same soil that once fed monks now supplies markets around the lake. As you walk, you may smell earth, water and fresh green leaves together.

Before you leave, stand still for a moment and look around you. Notice how low the island sits, how wide the sky is, how the church towers rise above the trees and fields. More than a thousand years ago, monks walked these same paths between prayer, study and garden work. The lake still surrounds them. As you head back toward the causeway, listen again to the water and the bells — the oldest sounds this island knows.