If we want to understand how the region around Lake Constance became a spiritual meeting point in Europe, we must not view it as the holiday paradise that it is today, but rather as the wilderness that the first monks envisioned 1,400 years ago. They came from far away, from Ireland and France, seeking not a homeland, but an exile where they could be alone with God and their souls. Here, they found a mysterious lake; storms and fog above it, water demons in its depths. They discovered a primeval forest without paths, with bears and snakes in the plains, and weather witches on the mountains. Since the seventh century, the monks built hermitages here. Gradually, they cleared the primeval forest, engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, and even cultivated medicinal herbs and purebred horses. The Benedictines attracted Alemannic farmers, who learned from them the seriousness of faith and the zeal for work.