Reichenau Island

Reichenau Island
	Aerial view of Reichenau Island
	Reichenau, shown with Konstanz and Bodensee Kreise of Germany (yellow) and Thurgau canton of Switzerland (green)
Geography
Location	Lake Constance
Coordinates	47°41′40″N 9°3′45″E / 47.69444°N 9.06250°ECoordinates: 47°41′40″N 9°3′45″E / 47.69444°N 9.06250°E
Area	4.3 km2 (1.7 sq mi)
Administration
	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
District	Freiburg
Additional information
Official website	www.reichenau.de
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Monastic Island of Reichenau
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii, iv, vi
Designated	2000 (24th session)
Reference no.	974
Region	Europe and North America

Reichenau Island^[a] (German: [ˈʁaɪçənaʊ]) 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 4.3 km² (1.7 sq mi) and a circumference of 11 km (6.8 mi), the island is 4.5 km (2.8 mi) long and 1.5 km (0.93 mi) wide at its greatest extent. The highest point, the Hochwart, stands some 43 m (141 ft) above the lake surface and 438.7 m (1,439 ft) 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 10 m (33 ft)-wide and 95 m (312 ft) long waterway, the Bruckgraben. A low road bridge allows the passage of ordinary boats but not of sailing-boats.

The island was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000 because of the Abbey of Reichenau. The abbey's Münster (minster church) is dedicated to the Virgin and Saint Mark. Two further churches were built on the island consecrated to Saint George and to Saints Peter and Paul. 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. 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 south Germany.

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.

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.

Gallery[]

15th-century towers on the Romanesque church of Sts Peter and Paul in Reichenau-Niederzell
South West Reichenau Island
South East Reichenau Island
St. Georg, Reichenau-Oberzell
Aspen-lined Avenue to Reichenau Island
One of the island's many vegetable fields with Sankt Georg Kirche in the background

Notes[]

^ The Alemannic name of the island was Sindleozesauua, but it was also known as simply Ow, Auua (island) – Latinized as Augia, later also Augia felix or Augia dives (rich, or fertile, island), hence Richenow, Reichenau.

External links[]

Monastic Island of Reichenau UNESCO Official Website

Reichenau: monastic island
(in German) History and images
Reichenau Abbey Church
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Reichenau". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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

[1] The Alemannic name of the island was Sindleozesauua, but it was also known as simply Ow, Auua (island) – Latinized as Augia, later also Augia felix or Augia dives (rich, or fertile, island), hence Richenow, Reichenau.

[a]

show v t World Heritage Sites in Germany
For official site names, see each article or the List of World Heritage Sites in Germany.
Northern	ADGB Trade Union School Berlin Modernism Housing Estates Bremen Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace Fagus Factory in Alfeld Hedeby and the Danevirke Archaeological Border Complex St. Mary's Cathedral and St. Michael's Church at Hildesheim Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin Hanseatic City of Lübeck Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus in Hamburg Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar
Central	Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm ~~Dresden Elbe Valley~~ (delisted in 2009) Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region¹ Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski² Naumburg Cathedral Collegiate Church, Castle, and Old Town of Quedlinburg Wartburg Castle Classical Weimar
Western	Aachen Cathedral Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at Brühl Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe Cologne Cathedral Carolingian Westwork and Civitas Corvey Upper Middle Rhine Valley Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier Speyer Cathedral Völklingen Ironworks Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen
Southern	Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier Town of Bamberg Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura Frontiers of the Roman Empire:³ Upper Germanic & Rhaetian Limes Maulbronn Monastery Complex Margravial Opera House Monastic Island of Reichenau Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof Pilgrimage Church of Wies Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps⁴ Water Management System of Augsburg Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square
Natural	Messel Pit Fossil Site Ancient Beech Forests⁵ Wadden Sea⁶
¹ Shared with the Czech Republic ² Shared with Poland ³ Shared with the United Kingdom ⁴ Shared with Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland ⁵ Shared with Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine ⁶ Shared with the Netherlands and Denmark

show v t Islands in Lake Constance
Inhabited	Reichenau Lindau Mainau Dominicans Werd
Uninhabited	Hoy Triboldingerbohl Liebesinsel Mittleres Werdli Unteres Werdli Vogelinsel
Former	Entlibühl Galgeninsel

show Authority control
General	Integrated Authority File (Germany) VIAF 1 WorldCat
National libraries	United States Czech Republic
Other	Historical Dictionary of Switzerland