Part of a Carolingian polycentric monastery: Reichenau-Niederzell - The medieval church and its liturgical setting

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Matthias Untermann
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology ; Art History
• Term: from 2015 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 276703074

The churches on the island Reichenau in Lake Constance are part of one of the most prominent monasteries of the Early and High Middle Ages in Europe. Research in the last few years has shown that it seems to be essential for monasteries of that period to be composed of several separate churches and individual parts, serving the different needs of convent, benefactors and the parish. These parts constitute a network providing liturgical, memorial and representative functions for monks and donators whose families formed the middle-European elite. There is no polycentric monastery complex so well preserved and in parts already thoroughly examined as the one on Reichenau. Archeological research on the building history of the main monastery, Mittelzell, and the collegiate church of St. George in Oberzell over the years 1984-2012 has led to seminal results, in important parts already published.From 1970 to 1976 the former collegiate church of St. Peter and Paul in Niederzell, founded in 799, has been excavated. Even though this excavation project, which was and still is the only modern excavation of this extent on Reichenau, was well planned and executed under the highest standards, the results have yet to be analyzed. Special attention will be given the significant fragment of Carolingian choir screens. This analysis will not only provide answers to building-specific archaeological or art historical questions but as well give insights into the liturgical diversity, regional differentiation, spatial organization and the history of the very complex structure of an exemplary early-medieval monastery. The results will therefore be fundamental to research in many fields of medieval studies.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Dr.-Ing. Claudia Mohn