REICHENAU

island in the Untersee, the western arm of Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Baden-Wrttemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany. Belonging to the city of Konstanz, it is 3 miles (5 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) wide and is connected to the mainland by a causeway 1.25 miles (2 km) long. Reichenau is known for the richly endowed Benedictine monastery founded there in 724 and secularized in 1803; it was the artistic and literary centre of southwestern Germany during the 9th to 11th centuries and had an important college that produced many archbishops and bishops of the period. The abbey church at Mittelzell (10th11th century, with a late Gothic choir) contains the tomb of Charles III the Fat (d. 888), who retired to Reichenau after being dethroned. A lake resort, the reiche Au (rich pasture cultivated by the medieval monks), still supports flowers, fruit, and grapes. Pop. (1991 est.) 4,562.