We went to Lake Constance for Kathy's birthday. We took the train to the city of Konstance (just off the bottom of the photo below), and then the bus took us onto the island of Reichenau and to our holiday apartment.
 |
| Island of Reichenau from the air |
Reichenau Island is a small island, although it is the largest in Lake Constance. There are the usual docks and beautiful houses on the shore (see photo). We had a short walk from our vacation apartment past a nice little wine store with local wines to the boat dock (see photo). Of course, we had to buy a couple of the local wines to have back at our apartment.
 | |
| Google Maps view of location of vacation apartment |
 | |
| House on the shore near wine store |
 |
| Hotel near the Schiffsanlegestelle (boat dock) |
Reichenau has a nice little commercial district in the center of the island. The town originally grew up around the abbey when the abbey was being built. The town was home to the blacksmiths and weavers and others who supported the monks. The town had a mayor, appointed by the abbot, and a town square, where community celebrations took place. The town square still exits, and there is a 700-year-old
 |
| 700-year-old linden tree in town square |
 |
| tree trunk of linden |
Reichenau was very important during the Carolingian, Ottonian, and Salian dynasties (in the 8th to 12th centuries) due to an abbey that was built on the island in the 8th century. Abbeys were so important due to the abbey schools, scriptoria (writing workshops) and libraries, where knowledge was preserved and new ideas were developed. Ten Reichenau manuscripts were named UNESCO World Documentation Heritage in 2003 as “unique documents of cultural history, which are exemplary for the collective memory of mankind.” Four of the documents are The Codex Egberti (produced between 977 and 993 by bishop Egbert of Trier for his own use), Gospel Book of Otto III (gift of Otto's successor, Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich II, to the Bamberg cathedral), The Bamberg Apocalypse (produced around 1010 and commissioned by Heinrich II and Empress Kunigunde to commemorate the founding of the diocese in 1007), and the Pericopes of Heinrich II (pericopes contain only the passages from the gospels which are to be read during the liturgical year; not the entire bible). The Pericopes were made approx. 1002–1012 for Henry II, the last Ottonian Holy Roman Emperor (who founded the bishopric at Bamberg, just north of us).
 |
| Jesus Quiets the Storm (Codex Egberti) |
 |
| Bamberg Apocalypse: Christ surrounded by four evangelists |
 |
| Gospel of Otto III |
 |
| Pericope of Heinrich II |
 |
| Jesus Quiets the Storm (Gospel of Otto III) |
 |
| From the Pericope of Heinrich II.: top: Heinrich II. and Kunigunde are crowned by Christ, behind them are the Bamberger Patron saints Peter and Paul. bottom: people paying homage to the personifications of Rome, Gallia and Germania |
The work of a scribe was said to be very difficult. The scribe worked long hours, and it was monotonous work. An 8th-century scribe at Reichenau wrote, “O happiest of readers, wash your hands and grasp the book, turn the pages gently, hold your fingers far from the letters. He, who does not know how to write, does not believe that this is work. O how difficult writing is: it clouds the eyes, squeezes the kidneys and at the same time brings agony to all members. Three fingers write, the entire body suffers….”
.jpg) |
| From Lorch Choir Book of 1511 showing monk with eye glasses. |
Scribes generally used two cow's horns as inkwells; one for black and one for red ink. Goose quill were the preferred writing instruments. The plume had to be removed from the shaft because the feathers hampered writing. The softened tip had to be constantly resharpened, so a knife was held in the left hand with the quill in the right hand.
 |
| A scribe's desk |
Illuminators needed even more tools. Many different pigments were obtained from plants and minerals. But the most expensive dye was the color-fast dye, Murex purple, obtained from Murex sea snails. extracting this dye involved tens of thousands of snails and many hours of labor, and as a result, the dye was highly valued. Charlemagne was buried in a purple shroud made from the same dye as was used in illustrations shown above.
 |
| St. Pirmin with snakes underfoot |
The abbey on Reichenau had six abbots between St. Pirmin and Abbot Waldo (circa 740-814/815), who belonged to a noble Frankish family from Wetterau, Germany. He was a confidant of Charlemagne and one of the advisors and educators of his eldest son Pippin the Hunchback. He educated the clerks who staffed imperial and ducal chanceries. He entered the Abbey of Reichenau in 784 under Abbot Peter, brother of Hildegard, Charlemagne's second wife. Waldo was made abbot when Peter died in 786. Waldo remained abbot until 806.
Reginbert von Reichenau was a scribe and librarian under the Reichenau abbots Waldo (786-806), Haito (806-23), Erlebald (823-38), and Ruadhelm (838-42). The scriptorium under Reginbert used until the middle of the 9th century the older Alemannic minuscule, while other cloisters used the Carolingian minuscule, which gave us the small-case letters we use today. Reginbert was one to two monks at the Reichenau abbey who created the Plan of St. Gall, the only surviving architectural drawing from the Middle Ages.
 |
| The monastery plan of St. Gall |
Haito was born in 764, and at the age of five he entered the Abbey of Reichenau. Waldo made Haito the head of the monastic school, and Haito succeeded Waldo as abbot in 806. Haito rebuilt the abbey church of Reichenau (St. Maria and St. Mark) in 816. He resigned in 823 due to health reasons, and died on 17 March 836. Also in 816 he took part in the Aachen Reform Synod, called to establish regulations for the monastic life in the Frankish realm. The statutes that he probably published at the synod included regulations that priests should lead exemplary lives and be able to preach in both Latin and the vernacular. They were forbidden to live with women and stay in taverns. After the synod, Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig the Pious (son of Charlemagne) issued the Plan of St. Gall (see above), which might have been initiated by Haito. In 824, Haito wrote the Visio Wettini, in which he records the spiritual experiences of Wettin, president of the monastic school of Reicheneau. The day before Wettin's death (4 November 824) he saw bad and good spirits in a vision; an angel took him through hell, purgatory, and heaven, and showed him the torments of the sinners and the joys of the saints. The book bears some resemblance to Dante's Divine Comedy (begun in 1308).
Walafrid
Strabo, i.e. "Walafrid the squint-eyed", was a Benedictine monk who was
born about 805 to the Alemannni, which had been conquered by the
germanic tribe of the Franks in the 6th century. He was educated at
Reichenau, and then he went on to the monastery of Fulda. He was made
abbot of the Reichenau abbey in 838.
Walafrid Strabo was tutor
to Charles the Bald, who was the grandson of Charles the Great
(Charlemagne) and son of Louis the Pious. Louis's empire was divided
among his three sons, with Charles the Bald getting the western third,
i.e. France. (Lothair I got the Middle, including Italy, and Louis the
German got the East, i.e. Germany).
Walafrid went to Speyer for some years, and returned to Reichenau in 842. He is died in 849.
In
addition to Walafrid Strabo's theological and poetical works,
Walafrid's chief historical works are the rhymed Vita sancti Galli (The
Life of Saint Gall). The poem De Imagine Tetrici takes the form of a
dialogue; it was inspired by an equestrian statue depicting a nude
emperor on horseback believed to be Theodoric the Great which stood in
front of Charlemagne's palace at Aachen.
Walifrid Strabo's rule was the end of the golden age for the abbey. The abbey reached its apex under Abbot Berno of Reichenau (1008–48). The abbey lands were secularized (initially in 1757 and permanently in 1803) and the monks disbanded under Napoleon. Part of Reichenau's famed library was preserved in the state library (Landesbibliothek) at Karlsruhe.
Under Abbott Hatto III (888 - 913) Reichenau Abbey became a political power.
Emperor
Arnulf, who overthrew his uncle Emperor Charles the Fat to become the Carolingian king of East Francia, made Hatto III the arch-chancellor in 891. Hatto III was the godfather of Ludwig the Child, who was the last Carolingian emperor. Near the end of the 9th
century, the Church of St. Georg in Reichenau was built, and to commemorated a visit to Rome by the emperor and Abbot Hatto in 896, Pope Gregory II, made of gift of the relic head of Saint George.
 |
| Hermann with a copy of Salve Regina |
Abbot Berno (1008 -1048) had the western choir of the Church of St. Maria and Mark built, which was consecrated in 1048. During this time, Hermann der Lahme (Hermann the lame) was a well-known composer, and he wrote documents on history, music theory, mathematics, and astronomy as well. Some of his hymns are still sung today. He was partially paralyzed from early childhood possibly due to either lateral sclerosis or spinal muscular atrophy. He was born with a cleft palate and cerebral palsy. As a result, he had great difficulty moving and could hardly speak. Only his brother could understand him, and so Hermann dictated all of his works to his brother. At seven, Hermann was placed in a Benedictine monastery by his parents who could no longer look after him. By the age of twenty, Hermann knew several languages, including Arabic, Greek and, of course, Latin. Starting with a manuscript of Arabic origin, he drafted instruction for constructing an astrolbe ( an astronomical calculator and measuring apparatus. He calculated the calendar cycle, produced musicological and mathematical writings and treatises on solar and lunar eclipses. He also wrote poems and an authoritative "world chronicle" documenting events since the birth of Christ.
Plan of St. Gall
The Plan of St. Gall is the only surviving architectural drawing from the Middle Ages. The Plan of St. Gall is an original drawing made at Reichenau Abbey for the abbey of Saint Gall. The plan of St. Gall was presented to Gozbert, Abbot of St. Gall (816-836) who planned to rebuild the entire monastery; but only the church was actually constructed (830-836). The Plan probably dates from 817. The Plan was called a copy, but it is actually an original based on observations of marks left by pairs of compasses in the parchment, as well as alterations and changes undertaken during its drawing. And the fact that the manuscript was drawn and written by two scribes, a younger one and an elder who acted as a supervisor. It has been possible to attribute the handwriting of these scribes to the monastery of Reichenau and one of them has been identified as monk Reginbert (see above).
There is a construction project to build a medieval monastery according to the Plan of Saint Gall using techniques from that era. The project is called Campus Galli, and Kathy and I were volunteers there in 2014. It was a wonderful experience. (See our blog about our week there at the link under Campus Galli above.)
Church of St. Maria and St. Mark
Walifrid
Strabo's most famous poem is the Liber de cultura hortorum which was later published as the Hortulus, dedicated to Grimald. It is an account of a little garden in Reichenau Island that he used to tend with his own hands, and is largely made up of descriptions of the various herbs he grew there and their medicinal and other uses, including beer brewing. Sage holds the place of honor; then comes rue, the antidote of poisons; and so on through melons, fennel, lilies, poppies, and many other plants, to wind up with the rose, "which in virtue and scent surpasses all other herbs, and may rightly be called the flower of flowers." The rose hips were used in the kitchen as a good source of Vitamin C.
 |
| Kathy and our tour guide of the herb garden. |
The tour guide, Ingrid Günther, told us about the dangers of Artemisia Absinthium (called Echter Wermut in German, known as common wormwood in English), which is used as an ingredient in the spirit absinthe. The German word Wermut is the source of the term vermouth, used in English to describe a kind of wine traditionally flavoured with wormwood and used in Martinis. Unfortunately, wormwood is toxic and addictive. Our tour guide told us that wormwood (absinthe) was a popular liqueur-like drink fashionable in Paris in the late 1800s, and that Vincent Van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was addicted to the terpene in absinthe, and that repeatedly taking the drug contributed to his mental illness.
Ingrid also told us about about making tea from linden blossoms. Because the lindens always bloom over Kathy's birthday, we decided to make some.
 |
| separating leaves from blossoms |
 |
| boiling the blossoms |
 |
| tea after first boiling (left) and after second (right) |
After boiling the blossoms for ten minutes, the tea was a beautiful honey-yellow. We left the blossoms in the tea and waited over night to boil it a second ten minutes. The tea turned beautiful red, and it still tasted and smelled of lindens, although the tea was also more bitter, like black tea.
Church of St. Maria
 |
| Eastern end of Church with scriptorium |
 |
| Inside east end (iron gate and lighted reliquary alter) |
Reliquaries
 |
| Altar holding the holy blood |
In Germany there are three holy blood relics, believed to be the blood of Christ himself. The one in Church of St Maria and St Mark is the oldest surviving holy blood relic recorded in history, not counting records of legends, rediscovery and claims. The story of the relic was recorded by an anonymous monk in Reichenau. The claim is that the blood was collected by Joseph of Arimathea. Previous to the emperor Charlemagne, the owner was a Byzantine nobleman, and name of the of this owner is included on reverse of the little golden cross holding the relic itself. The relic was given to the emperor Charlemagne by an Arab named Hassan. Then the relic was presented to the Reichenau abbey by Schwanhilde on November 7, 925. The relic contains soil said to be drenched with the blood of Christ, also some fabric with blood and part of the cross. The relic parts are contained in a small golden cross with Greek writing on reverse.
The relic could not be seen today, but it is held inside a bright red and gold altar in the choir of the church.
 |
| Reliquary of St Mark in the Church of St Maria and Mark |
According to the Tourist Information Center on Reichenau, two merchants from Venice found the bones of St. Mark in Alexandria in 828. They hid the bones in a crate under pork to discourage the custom officials in Alexandria from finding the bones. The bones were loaded on a ship, and brought to Venice. At the port where the bones were unloaded, the ruler of Venice had a church built to house the relics. The church is now St. Marks cathedral.
In 830, Bishop Ratold of Verona, Italy, ( who was, incidentally, the successor of Bishop Egino, see Church of St Peter and Paul, below) purchased the relics of St. Mark and brought them to Reichenau from Venice. In order to conceal the transfer of the relics, the bishop used the name St. Valens, a prominent figure in the Catholic Church as a priest and bishop of Verona, for the relics. Bishop Ratold, who was from the Alemannis, founded the town of Radolfzell on the shore of Lake Constance in 826, and retired there in 834. His grave is in the Church of Our Lady in Radolfzell.
 | |
| End view of the reliquary with picture of St Mark and his familiar, the lion |
The reliquary today is a silver-embossed and gold-plate shrine made in the early 14th century.
Treasury
 |
| Vessel from the wedding at Cana |
The scriptorium in the corner between the choir and the northern transept (see photo above) is used today as the treasury, which has many more reliquaries and valuable pieces of art, like the monstrance shown in the photo. An interesting one is one of the oldest vessels from the “Wedding at Cana”, which is a large marble jug from the 5th century in a Gothic metal setting from the 15th century.
 |
| Monstrance made from silver, gold, copper, and painted enamel. |
 |
| West end of the Church of St Maria and Mark |
Burials
Charles III, also called Charles the Fat (839-888), who was a great grandson of Charlemagne, is buried in the choir. He was the youngest son of Louis the German, and the last Carolingian emperor of legitimate birth. He was the last to rule for a short time a united kingdom of the Franks, both West Francia (France) and East Francia (Germany).
 |
| Charles the Fat |
 |
| Tomb of Charles the Fat |
Gerold was Charlemagne's brother-in-law and was appointed by Charlemagne as Prefect of Bavaria in 788. Gerold made his seat of power at Lorch, in what is today Austria.
 |
| Tomb of Gerold, brother-in-law of Charlemagne |
Church of St. Peter and Paul
The Church of St Peter and Paul is at the western tip of the island, in the part called "Niederzell". The church was built by Bischop Egino of Verona, with permission from Abbot Waldo. Egino was retired here and consecrated the church in 799. (After the Franks conquered the Lombards, another Germanic tribe, in 774, Egino was made the carolingian bishop of Verona around 780. He followed the monk, Ratold, to the Reichenau Abbey, where Egino had an other connections.) He died in 802, and his grave was moved to the choir in the 12th century.
However, after two fires the nave of the church collapsed around 1080, and so a new nave was built on the ancient foundations, maintaining the original measurements, but without a transept. In the floor of the apse is the gravestone of
What remains of the original church is in the choir. The photo shows the frescoes in the apse of the choir (with a little baroque decoration at the top).
 |
| Apse of the church of St Peter and Paul |
The top of the apse shows God the Father surrounded by the familiars of the four evangelists. On the right and left are St Peter and Paul, respectively. The second row originally showed the twelve Apostles, although only ten still exist after the window was enlarged and made gothic in the 18th century. The bottom row shows prophets.
 |
| Top row of the apse of the Church of St. Peter and Paul |
Compare this with the Bamberg Apocalypse: Christ surrounded by four evangelists (above)
Although the stuccoes are faded, it is easy to imagine similar decoration made from mosaic a couple of centuries earlier, like in Ravenna.
Church of St. George
The last of the three remaining churches is the Church of St. George. The church was built to house the relic head of Saint George, a gift from Pope Gregory II, which commemorated a visit to Rome by Abbot Hatto III in 896 (see above). The church architecture has not been largely changed since its construction, the biggest exception being the widening of the windows in the second story during the years 1787 and 1788.
 |
| Church of St George |
The paintings are not frescoes. The paintings are color-fast due to the pigment that was used. So the paintings will not fade in light. However, the rise in humidity along with pollution and the formation of molds causes significant damage to the paintings, and so entrance to the church is limited. They are available to tourists only during a tour. They are the only preserved complete set of wall paintings produced north of the Alps before 1000. They were probably commissioned by Abbot Witrigowo (985-997).
The paintings are divided into three zones. The lowest zone is located between the nave and the arches. The middle zone is above the arches. The highest zone is located above the windows. The lowest panel depicts the monasteries at Reichenau Island. The second is the most researched zone. It portrays Christ's miracles. The top panel depicts Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles. Pieces of these pictures were lost when the windows were widened in the 18th century. The pattern of the horizontally oriented three-part structure of the wall painting has its origins in early Christian churches such as in St Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna.
Each of the pictures should be read from left to right. Christ always enters from the left. Each has three fields: and lower dark field, a middle field, and an upper sky field.
The Healing of the Demon-Possessed Man (Mark 5:1–19) “The demon is
driven out, which bears the name Legion. Then [the demons] enter the
swine. They throw themselves into the open sea”. This one is interesting
because some painting was added. Specifically, the shadows of the pigs
The Healing of a Man with Dropsy (Luke 14:1–11) “A man with dropsy comes straight toward the path and is healed. He goes there loaded. He returns freed of the burden.” The seven white doves represent the seven gifts of the holy spirit.
The man with dropsy is shown in the middle as the person with an extended belly. Dropsy is due to swelling under the skin, and the skin fills with fluid.
The Calming of the Windstorm on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23–27) “God sleeps in his bodily form; east and south wind in particular break lose. With sovereign power, he gives the command. Wind and water are calm.”
Christ is shown twice in this painting; once asleep on the left end of the boat and then again calming the sea on the right end of the boat. Notice that the wind spirits are goats.
Also compare it with the from the illumination, Jesus Quiets the Storm from the Gospel Gospel of Otto III, above.
The Healing of the Man Born Blind (John 9:1–38) “Here the one born without light is anointed with saliva and clay and…” (the remainder of the inscription is unreadable due to partial destruction).
These four paintings show Christ's power over nature.
Now for the paintings on the south side of the nave. They start with Healing of a Leper (Matthew 8:1–13) “... thankfully gives…” (inscription mostly destroyed)
Raising of the Young Man of Nain (Luke 7:11–16) “Dead one, rise quickly, and by rising and at the same time saying, return to life!/ And so drive away all sadness of your widowed mother!”
The Daughter of Jairus Restored to Life and a Sick Woman Healed (Matthew 9:18–26) “See, the faith of the ruler encourages you, Jesus, to say, By the power of [my] force I want to, ‘Magdalena now arise’!”
Lazarus Raised from the Dead (John 11:1–45) “Lazarus, come forth! you who have already been buried four days! ‘Leave the delay in death.’: Thus speaks the Father’s image.”
The first four paintings showed Christ's power over nature, and the last four showed his power over death.
The last wall painting is the on the west wall, where we came in. It is of the return of Christ for the last judgement made on 1708.
The illuminations in books and the wall paintings show parallels in both content and composition with each other. These, in turn, were influenced by Carolingian and northern Italian art. Compare, for example, the Codex Egberti from around 982 and the Gospel of Otto III around 1000 with the wall paintings. It is no surprise that there was a tradition of monumental wall painting at the Reichenau Abbey since the 8th century.
The museum has some interesting information on the scientific investigation and preservation of the paintings.
Reliquary
As mentioned above, Pope Gregory II made of gift of the relic head of Saint George to Abbot Hatto in 896. The church was built to house the reliquary.
 |
| Statue of St George slaying the dragon |
 |
| Tour guide behind the altar at the opening to the reliquary |
 |
| Skull of St Georg in reliquary |
Closure
The visit to Reichenau Island was great, and now Richard is reading a book of historical fiction about the island in the year 936. It was written by the tour guide to the museum, Monika Küble, and the name of the book is "Das Gehemnis des Klosterplans" (The Secret of the Cloister Plan). She gave a great tour, and she wrote a great book.
