Exhibition Closing
World Heritage of the Middle Ages: 1,300 Years of the Monastic Island of Reichenau
Great State Exhibition 2024
Badisches Landesmuseum (Baden State Museum), Karlsruhe, Germany
20 April - 20 October 2024
The exhibition "World Heritage of the Middle Ages - 1,300 Years of the Monastic Island of Reichenau" is one of the "Great State Exhibitions" of the federal state Baden-Württemberg in Southwest Germany. The exhibition celebrates the 1,300 year jubilee of the Reichenau Monastery, which was founded in the year 724 on the Reichenau Island in Lake Constance.
The exhibition is curated by the Badisches Landesmuseum and will be hosted at the Archaeological State Museum Baden-Württemberg in the city of Constance. The historic sites on the nearby Monastic Island of Reichenau complement the exhibition.
Precious loaned objects along with two UNESCO World Heritage titles make the Great State Exhibition 2024 one of the most spectacular special exhibitions in Europe: The imperial cloister Reichenau was one of the most innovative cultural and political centers of the realm and an influential school of painting in the 10th and 11th centuries . Long before printing was invented, the cloister was considered one of the greatest European centers of learning and knowledge. The “Monastic Island of Reichenau” has been included in the list of UNESCO world heritage sites in the year 2000.
The cloister scriptorium on Reichenau was among the most prodigious book producers of the early Middle Ages. Some of the most precious and magnificent manuscripts in the world originated there. At the order of powerful emperors, kings and imperial bishops, the monks created works of art, which fascinate to this day with their perfection and beauty. The main works of 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.”
The exhibition, which will be hosted in the Archaeological State Museum Baden-Württemberg in Constance, brings the fascinating history of the cloister to life: The magnificent manuscripts from the Reichenau scriptorium, which have never been exhibited in such number, are one particular highlight. The rich monastic landscape at Lake of Constance and the upper Rhine are presented, as well as the life of the monks.
Monastic Island of Reichenau
The Reichenau island is of outstanding natural beauty. Vegetables, herbs and wine thrive in the gardens, fields and vineyards of the island in Lake Constance at the foot of the Alps. The three medieval churches, which used to belong to the cloister Reichenau are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. They form a unique ensemble of Carolingian and Ottonian architecture.
A spectacular treasure chamber presents numerous reliquaries and other cult objects dating from the 5th to the 18th centuries. The newly designed cloister gardens are inspired by two famous medieval treatises on horticulture, which are associated with the monastery. The "Museum Reichenau" hosts an exhibition on the cultural and historical significance of the Reichenau.
For more information, visit here.