Reichenau - St. Peter und Paul

Reichenau Island is an island in Lake Constance. It lies west of the city of Konstanz. Since 1838 the island is connected to the mainland by a causeway.

The island was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 because of the important Abbey of Reichenau founded in 724 by Saint Pirmin, with patronage that included Charles Martel, Count Berthold of the Ahalolfinger and the Alemannian Duke Santfrid (aka Hnabi). It gained influence in the Carolingian dynasty, by educating the clerks who staffed Imperial and ducal chanceries. An important book collection was built up here.
The abbey housed a school, and a scriptorium and artists' workshop, that has a claim to have been the largest and artistically most influential centre for producing illuminated manuscripts in Europe during the late 10th and early 11th centuries, often known as the Reichenau School.

The Abbey reached its apex under Abbot Berno of Reichenau (1008–48). During his time, important scholars lived and worked in Reichenau. In the second half of the 11th century, the importance started to wane owing to rivalry with the nearby St. Gall. In 1540, the Bishop of Constance, an old rival of the Reichenau abbots, became lord of Reichenau, and, under the control of the succeeding bishops, the abbey's significance dwindled.

The first church dedicated to St. Peter in this place was built in 799 by Bishop Egino of Verona, who after his resignation moved here to a cella, where he died in 802. Egino had founded the cella with the permission of Abbot Waldo. Venerated and blessed Egino received a burial place in the choir of today's St. Peter und Paul (aka "Reichenau Basilika") in the 12th century.

The first church had collapsed after a fire in 1080. St. Peter und Paul had been erected on the ancient foundations. Unfortunately, the interior of St. Peter and Paul was redesigned in the Rococo style around 1750/1760 when windows were enlarged, the originally flat wooden ceiling was replaced by a flat stucco vault.