Just pray and work? What did the first monks really do on the Reichenau and what influence did they have? New findings from a symposium will flow into the large state exhibition next year.
Reichenau/Karlsruhe (dpa/lsw) – Looking at the exciting history of the monastery island of Reichenau from new perspectives – that is the aim of a conference to which scientists from all over the world will travel to Lake Constance from March 1st to 4th. Because Reichenau has much more to offer than vegetables. In the Middle Ages it was an important European center of religion, art, literature, science and illumination. The Lake Constance island has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site for more than 20 years.
The Baden State Museum is taking the 1300th anniversary of the monastery island in 2024 as an opportunity to bring research up to date. The results will be included in the large state exhibition “Monastery Island Reichenau” (April 20 – October 20, 2024).
What moved the later canonized itinerant bishop Pirmin from western Franconia to come to Lake Constance and probably found the Reichenau monastery on the largest island in 724? Abandoned by monks in the meantime, there have been Benedictines here again since 2001. But what was it like in the past: according to the rules of Saint Benedict of Nursia, was there only “ora et labora” (“pray and work”) and how did the early life of the monks really work?
These are just a few of the questions that scientists from Paris, Utrecht, New York, Geneva and Hamburg will be discussing at the conference, which is open to the general public. “Numerous new approaches in the study of manuscripts and archaeological excavations have yielded surprising findings,” says Eckart Köhne, director of the Badisches Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe.
A 600 meter long row of piles was discovered in the shallow water around the island, which could date back to 724 AD. “These would be archaeological finds for the first time that could confirm the founding year,” enthuses the archaeologist Köhne, who has a doctorate. Archaeologists want to present the first results in the coming week.
The aim of the conference is to bundle research results and then to present a comprehensive picture of life on the island and the Europe-wide network of monasteries in the state exhibition. The island of Reichenau, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000, with its three medieval churches and monastery gardens is part of the Great State Exhibition alongside Constance. “The great thing is the authentic location, which we will include as the original location,” says Köhne.
A highlight will be the presentation of the magnificent manuscripts from the famous Reichenau scriptorium in the Archaeological State Museum in Constance – thanks to loans, they will be brought together again on Lake Constance for the first time in decades. The valuables, which have belonged to UNESCO’s world documentary heritage since 2003, were once written by local monks and given to the powerful.
The Great State Exhibition 2024 is being created in cooperation between the Baden State Museum, the Baden State Library, the State Archives of Baden-Württemberg/General State Archives in Karlsruhe and the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments/Archaeological State Museum.