Sankt Otmar im Werd

The small Rhine island at the lower foot of Lake Constance has an important past. The earliest traces go back to the time of the pile dwellers. The first abbot of the monastery of St. Gall, Otmar, died on 16 November 759 on the island of Werd, after he had been deposed for political reasons and banished here as a convict of the Franks. The abbot was buried on the island, but ten years later he was brought back to their monastery by the monks of St. Gallen and buried a second time. On the former grave of St. Otmar, a chapel was built in the 10th century, which became a place of pilgrimage. In 1767, it received a new impetus after an Otmars relic was brought to the island. Since 1957, Franciscan monks have lived in the priest's house attached to the chapel. The island can be reached via a wooden footbridge. No guests can be accommodated on the island. The church Liturgy of the Hours is prayed daily at 7:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. These so-called prayer beds are public, everyone is cordially invited. From the 8th century until 1738, the Vitus Church stood opposite the island near the banks of the Rhine. It was demolished due to dilapidation and replaced by the late Baroque Catholic parish church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (south of the main street).