World Heritage Site

In our planning, we had allocated an extra day of stay at most of the World Heritage area or UNESCO Sites. We thought that this would give us a day's break as well as detailed sightseeing of the World Heritage beauty. The Lake Constance region, where Germany borders Austria and Switzerland, is a holiday paradise set around Central Europe's third-largest inland lake. The most popular excursion is to the Flower Island of Mainau, famous for its magnificent park and gardens surrounding the baroque family residence of Count Bernadotte, or to the Monastic Island of Reichenau. We decided to hit Reinechau Island. The Monastic Island of Reichenau, which documents the religious and cultural role played by the large Benedictine abbey in the Middle Ages and has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2000. The three well-preserved Romanesque churches on the island are notable examples of monastic architecture.

After breakfast, we hit the road with our cycle and the distance to Reichenau island is just 15KM and it was a pleasant ride. We crossed the old German-Swiss border and then rode on the German side. What a difference being able to cycle without the heavy loads and within an hour we were in Reichenau. It was a quick ride.

Monastic Island of Reichenau

The island of Reichenau on Lake Constance preserves the traces of the Benedictine monastery, founded in 724, which exercised remarkable spiritual, intellectual and artistic influence. The churches of St Mary and Marcus, St Peter and St Paul, and St George, mainly built between the 9th and 11th centuries, provide a panorama of early medieval monastic architecture in central Europe. Their wall paintings bear witness to impressive artistic activity.

Master-Pieces beyond the description of imagination

I would describe it to be a masterpiece of human creative genius as the ensemble of the three churches on the monastic island constitutes an exceptional example of an integrated group of medieval churches retaining elements of Carolingian, Ottonian, and Salian architecture that are relevant to the history of architecture. The Benedictine monastery was an important artistic center of its time, superbly illustrated by its monumental wall paintings and its illuminations, and is of great significance to the art history in Europe of the 10th and 11th centuries.

The transepts and apse of the church of St Mary and Mark (1048), linked to the Carolingian parts by the nave, are equally important to the history of European architecture. The wall paintings in the apse of the church of St Peter and Paul at Niederzell are of exceptional quality, and constitute one of the earliest depictions of the Maiestas surviving north of the Alps. The wall paintings decorating the nave of the church of St George at Oberzell are artistically outstanding and constitute the only example of a complete and largely preserved set of pre-1000 scenic wall paintings north of the Alps. 

We had lunch at Mohren Restaurant. We enjoyed a lovely lunch here. The food was fresh and tasty, the service very friendly. What more can one ask for? The restaurant belongs to the Hotel Ganter, which we can only recommend for its outstanding cleanliness and its perfect location if you want to visit Reichenau, a 2-minute walk from the Museum Reichenau, this laid-back hotel is 2 km from St. Georg Church and a 5-minute walk from the Monastery of St. Maria and Markus.

We toured around Reichenau and returned to Kreuzlingen to have dinner in the evening. It was a very relaxing day.