Day 72: Reichenau to Wangen

July 10, 2014

The Benedictine monastery, and the idea of the medieval herbal garden are things that strike a chord with Dodie. On the surface you can point to her enjoyment of the Brother Cadfael mystery series by Ellis Peters as the source of this. On the other hand we often say that Dodie was born in the wrong century, and point to her love of handicraft, and love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with modern gadgets like GPS, as evidence of this.

So this morning we returned to the garden of the Benedictine monastery, here on Reichenau. Reichenau, aside from its active fruit and vegetable growing, is referred to as the Monastery Island. For this, it has UNESCO World Heritage status.

We often think that everything even slightly old and interesting has UNESCO status, but that is not quite true. The UNESCO program started in 1959 when Egypt asked for assistance preserving a Nubian temple threatened by the Aswan Dam. Today there are over 800 sites in 140 countries. Germany has 31 sites.

(Technical interlude: The tour came to a screetching halt this morning as I casually shifted into a low gear at the rear while still on the largest ring in the front. This is the position which uses up the most chain. Because first I and then the bike shop in Konstanz had shortened the chain while driving pins in and out and removing damaged plates, there was not enough chain to handle the gear combination. The chain came up taught as a rod, the derailleur was horizontal, and the bike was not going anywhere! I got out my chain tool and drove out a pin, allowing the chain to separate and of course loosen. Then I reassembled the chain, making sure it was on smaller gear wheels. So now it's buy a new chain or always remember not to put the bike into big front to big rear cogs. Grrr.)

Reichenau is an island of vegetable and fruit production, in addition to being a UNESCO site for its Monastery and churches

We are writing this from the little harbour on Reichenau, waiting for the ferry over to where we hope the bike path will not be closed, so we can carry on to Radolfzell. Here in the cafe, they have a great looking erdbeer schnitte, with a cheese layer! But, when it came to the crunch, I could not resist the even better looking johanisbeer kuchen (red currant coffee cake). So many pastries, so little time!

People are gearing up for the FIFA final

Across from Reichenau, our little ferry landed at Allensbach. Allensbach is a small town, but it did feature a picturesque church, with classic onion dome, a small farmers' market in progress, and a variety of fruit stands. The fruit stands are now popping up all along the lakeside, and right now are offering many kinds of berries, and really large and luscious cherries, plus apricots. The apricots are Dodie's favourite, and she claims to be able to eat an unlimited number of them without distress.

There is a story that anyone convicted of a capital crime on Reichenau had to be transported to Allensbach, because no weapons were allowed on the island. If the "poor sinner's bell" of the Abbey rung out during the ferry crossing, then the criminal was pardoned. Consequently this area is known as "Gnadensee", or merciful lake.

The church in Allensbach was pretty basic inside, in an ornate sort of way. That is, it had only three ornate "alter units" one on each side and one in the centre. Each unit is pretty complex, but there were clearly just the three bits. The stained glass, too, was on a manageable scale. One window, made in 1909, depicted St. Augustine. This brought to mind the Bob Dylan song, which ends:

I dreamed I saw St. Augustine Alive with fiery breath And I dreamed I was amongst the ones That put him out to death Oh, I awoke in anger So alone and terrified I put my fingers against the glass And bowed my head and cried.

Aside from St. Augustine Florida being basically the start/end of the Southern Tier bike route, that is the limit of my knowledge of St Augustine right now!

So we set off, generally heading west now, in the direction of Radolfzell. We stopped, naturally, to buy fruit - apricots, of course. Radolfzell is a major rail centre. Jurgen had recommended that we take a train from here into the heart of the Black Forest (at Triberg), but for now we will just keep cycling (down the Rhine). When we reach Freiberg in the Black Forest, we may look for a bus or tour to quickly show us what is deeper in.

The main square of Radolfzell is dominated by the Munster (of unserer lieben frau). Two other buildings on the square are being heavily renovated or rebuilt, leaving the Munster as the only focus of interest. Blog readers may be getting tired of descriptions of the churches in each town, but really, these are a lot of what the towns either are about or were about. Don't worry, though, I think we will soon be back to infinite fachwerk houses!

The Radolfzell munster, more than some others, it seems, is into reliquaries. Reliquaries are (were) a big deal, because (as we learned from Brother Cadfael) having the right relics could substantially enhance the image, pilgrimages, and revenues of a church or abbey. From the point of view of the public, seeing or even touching a relic could work miracles, and help with existential fears, mental anguish, or physical threats.

Going back to Reichenau for a second, we saw that they had the abbey church of St Mary and Mark, with a statue of Mark outside and a gold box inside - containing some part of the Saint. At the time, we wondered if this could be the "original" Mark, the one with the bible chapter named after him. Yes indeed, subsequent checking has shown. In 830 the Mark relic was brought by Bishop Ratolt of Verona. The authenticity of the bones was confirmed by Bishop Noting of Konstanz, 100 years later. Hey, if Noting says this is the real thing, it has got to be!

(Reichenau is not limited to the Mark relic - they also have Holy Blood, and a number of other items. We remember from another trip the major Basilica of the Holy Blood in Brugge - this was a really big deal there.)

Wall painting dates from 1080, using techniques from the 9th century Italy.

The Reichenau monastery - of St Mary and Mark

An old fachwerk house opposite the monastery

This canopy is used during the procession of the Holy Blood across the island

The monastery garden. This is most associated with Walafrid Strabo, the Poet Monk (about 850). In a poem he describes the layout and care of the gardens. This is the earliest medieval description of gardens

So, at Radolfzell, they have the grave of Radolf, the founder of the church, and the town that grew around it. However, they also have three other saints: Senesius, Theopont, and Zeno. These are known as the "landlords" (hausherren) of the place. Since 1542 these relics have been the focus of a solemn procession through the town. This is the start of a traditional festival known as the Hausherrenfest. Anyway, in the church are these gold boxesand suchlike, containing the precious relics. An eloquent and weird one is a gold hand - containing the relic of St Ursula.

How do we know all this? Well for one, they sell postcards in the church with photos and names for all this stuff!

By the way, coming back to having all this church stuff in the blog -we saw today that our church coverage is actually very spotty and understated. There is a book you can get that is the Bodensee church guide - and it lists 70 churches one could seek out. Many of the churches have a sticker you can get, and there is a place in the book to put your stickers as you collect them. (I did get my sticker for Radolfzell, but rather than go in a book it will end up on my handlebar bar bag. There is a question, though, of just how weatherproof it may be.)

Speaking of weather, it rained lightly all day, and the forecast calls for another week of basically rain. This really puts a clamp on camping, since setting up and/or taking down the tent in the rain is a real bug. With this in mind, we knew we would seek out a guesthouse tonight. In the small town of Wangen, which is 5 km from the major tourist site of Stein am Rhein, we decided to stop, though we had not gonevery far at all. Our thinking was that in Stein, which is in Switzerland to boot, prices would likely be very high. We went to the camping in Wangen and asked about a room or a covered beer tent. They offered us a wohnmobile (camper) for 50 euros, but instead we went over to the Guesthouse Adler, 58 euros with breakfast.

The Adler is very large inside, and is decorated in a style we have come to be familiar with: lots of knick knacks and old furniture, super quality windows, marble stairs. Of course, the bed has fluffy quilts, the bathroom is all tile, and the plumbing is top quality. We have come to really love these large, old, and completely renovated places!

We spread out the tent to dry, in the bike garage, because we are afraid with the forecast it will be a while before it gets set up again.

We are excited now to be drawing near both Stein am Rhein - with its frescoed houses - and then the Rhinefall, where we expect high water levels will be putting on an extra show. Before we do that, though, we will need to see what the Adler comes up with for its breakfast buffet!

Just three stand alone alters in Allensbach

A strange fountain near Allensbach shows a woman with washboard. Does anyone know what this is all about?

Strange figures on plaques around the strange fountain

On the trail to Radolfzell, this five and six year old pair was really fast!

A postcard back refers to the hausherren

The Bodensee churchguide suggests you visit about 70 local churches

This shows all the places mentioned in today's blog - Reichenau, Allensbach, Radolfzell, Stein am Rhein, etc.

Grandkids - this little boy mailed the postcards to you today, when Grandma Dodo asked him for help

Our guest house in Wangen,near Stein am Rhein

The guesthouse dining room. These old places are really funky and interesting.

Today's ride: 36 km (22 miles)
Total: 3,612 km (2,243 miles)

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