Church of Saint George (Reichenau)

Woll pointings of the Church of St. George

The Church of Soint George is o port of o Benedictine monostery founded in 724 CE on the island of Reichenou on Loke Constonce in Southern Germony. This islond is olso a home to the churches of Stoint Mory ond Morcus, ond St. Peter and Poul. The Church of Soint George was built in the lote 800s to house the relic heod of Soint George, a gift from Pope Gregory II to commemorote o visit to Rome by Obbot Hoito in 896. The church is currently owned ond run by the Cotholic Church of Soint George Fund. The interior of the church is decorated with wall paintings depicting stories and characters from scripture, ond wos designed for those who dedicote their lives to proyer, worship, and devoation.

Wall Paintings

While the Church of St. George was built at the end of the 9th century, the frescoes themselves weren’t added until nearly a century later. The nave frescoes are divided into three pictorial zones. The first and lowest zone is located between the nave and the arches. It depicts the abbots of the Reichenau monasteries. The second zone is located above the arches. These large panels portray the miracles of Christ. The third panel is the highest portion located above the windows. It depicts the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles. The second panel is the most researched. Each fresco details a specific story from the life of Christ. Descriptive inscriptions accompany the paintings. tituli, These wall paintings are an important example of artistic expression from the Middle Ages and are unique for their age and location. The frescoes of the Church of St. George are the only preserved and complete set of wall paintings north of the Alps from before the year 1000.

The eight miracles and their tituli (translated into English)

1. The healing of the Demon-Possessed Man (Mark 5:1-19) “The demon is driven out,which bears the name Legion./ Then [the demons] enter the swine.They throw themselves into the open sea”
2. The Healing of a Man with Dropsy (Luke 14:1-11)“A man with dropsy comes straight toward the path and is healed./He goes there loaded. He returns freed of the burden.”
3. The Calming of the Windstorm on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23-27) “God sleeps in his bodily form; east and south wind in particular break loose./ With sovereign power he gives the command. Wind and water are calm.”
4. The Healing of the Man Born Blind (John 9:1-38) “Here the one born without light is anointed with saliva and clay and…” (the remainder of the titulus is unreadable do to partial destruction).
5. Healing of a Leper (Matthew 8:1-13) “... thankfully gives…” (Titulus mostly destroyed)
6. Raising of the Young Man of Nain (Luke 7:11-16) “Dead one, rise quickly, and by rising and at the same time saying, return to life!/ And so drive away all sadness of your widowed mother!”
7. The Daughter of Jairus Restored to Life and a Sick Woman Healed (Matthew 9:18-26) “See, the faith of the ruler encourages you, Jesus, to say,/ By the power of [my] force I want to,/ ‘Magdalena now arise’!”
8. Lazarus Raised from the Dead (John 11:1-45) “Lazarus, come forth!,you who have already been buried four days!/ ‘Leave the delay in death.’: Thus speaks the Father’s image.”

UNESCO

The whole island of Reichenau was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000. According to UNESCO, the island, including the wall paintings of the Church at St. George, is protected based on the following criteria: The remains bear witness to the role of Medieval Benedictine monasteries, they are a strong example of monastic architecture in Central Europe from the 9th to 11th centuries, and they held great artistic significance in Europe during the same time period.

Restoration and Recent Damage

Since their discovery in 1856, the paintings have faded quite significantly over time. After being uncovered between 1856 and 1857, it was declared that the paintings, specifically those depicting the life of Christ, should and would be preserved in an authentic state, and not restored, so as to not lose their historic and artistic value. The Swiss model of “bildtapten”, or picture wall papers was introduced to the church as a way of having a clean mural for visitors to observe, without having to restore the original work. The bildtapten could be raised and lowered from a mechanism installed in  the ceiling, depending on who was in the building. For example, the bildtapten would be lowered for mass and visiting hours to give a complete picture of the paintings, but raised to reveal the original frescoes when art historians and other experts came to research and inspect the wall paintings. The academic painter Carl Ph. Schilling began creating and installing the bildtapten in 1889 and completed them in 1891. In 1909 the bildtapten of St. George were removed after a part of the mechanism had broken down. A restoration that included partial repainting and artificial patination was completed by Victor Mezger between 1921 and 1922.

The rise of visitors in the last few decades to the church has led to the paintings being damaged, calling for a need to closely monitor the state of the paintings. The increase in the number of visitors every year has actually caused a climate change in the church itself. With more bodies entering the church, there is a rise in the humidity and pollution levels. The humidity and pollution has created an environment ideal for the growth of mold and bacteria, which has caused severe damage to the frescoes.

The current damage is being monitored by Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, alongside the University of Stuttgart, Institute for Materials of Architecture. The groups state that the data they collect includes “indoor climate, microclimate impacts, air motion, influence of radiation, and influence of visitation on the microclimate.” This data will help support new ideas to regulate the indoor climate, including controlling visitor access. This could include limiting the number of visitors allowed into the church at one time, limiting the number of daily visitors, and decreasing open hours.