Monastic life in Germany crashes and burns

How monasteries can be preserved for society

The number of religious in Germany has been declining for years - and those that remain are often unable to keep their historic convents. So what to do? A question with many opportunities - but also difficult decisions.

Schlehdorf Abbey is in a scenic location: 30 kilometres from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the impressive baroque building towers over the small rural community on Lake Kochel with its approximately 1,300 inhabitants. Until secularisation, first a Benedictine monastery, then a collegiate convent, the Missionary Dominican Sisters of Qonce have shaped the village since 1904. Those times are over, the sisters have become fewer and older - but the imposing convent still exists. A challenge, for both order and society.

"The whole village was always our guest, we were the centre of the local society," Sister Josefa Thusbaß describes the importance of the convent for the community: educational offers in the convent rooms, youth work, confirmation and communion groups, last but not least, the convent was also an important employer through the affiliated businesses, even a significant one for such a small village. "Besides," adds Sister Josefa with a grin, "we always had the breeding bull here in agriculture for the farmers of the village." The Schlehdorf monastery was and is a point of identification for the people in the community.

As with many others, a lot was still attached to the monastery: schools and farms, a hospital ward. It became difficult when the sisters became fewer and fewer. The trend has been continuing for decades: In 2001, there were still more than 30,000 women religious in Germany, but today there are no longer 12,000 - and more than 80 percent of them are over 65 years old. The situation is no different for men - religious life in Germany is on the decline.

Until the system was no longer viable

The monastery in Schlehdorf reacted as many other monasteries do: What could no longer be carried by sisters was now taken over by employees. The responsibility remained with the decreasing number of sisters, spread over fewer and fewer, older and older shoulders. Until at some point the system was no longer profitable and thus viable.

What is the next step? It is not easy to answer this question. "In Germany, we are still at the very beginning," says cultural manager Ulrike Rose, chairperson of the association "Zukunft Kulturraum Kloster". Because no matter what steps you take, you need a lot of administrative acts. Some monasteries, such as Hegne Monastery on Lake Constance, have transferred their monastery operations (in this case the hotel and the school) into foundations. But to give up the monastery as well? "Because of the emotional value, some communities shy away from this," says Rose. Besides, "a foundation is not set up overnight".

At the moment, it is not uncommon for many monasteries to sweep their shrinking under the carpet. At some point, the monastery can no longer sustain itself, the community dissolves and the building is sold and converted into private flats, for example - if not demolished. For Rose, the worst of all possibilities: "There are some examples across Europe of how things can be done differently and retain something of the social and spiritual heritage of a monastery."

The Netherlands as a model

The most impressive examples come mainly from the Netherlands. There, the death of monasteries began earlier than in this country. What is the order of the day there today will probably happen in Germany in about 10 years. In Oirschot in Brabant, for example, the sisters of the convent there had their premises converted directly into a home for the elderly when they renovated them in the mid-1990s and moved in themselves. In the still existing Abbey of St. Adelbert in Egmond-Binnen, an art project between spirituality and community experience was created, which involves the people and the old religious community. Some approaches already exist in Germany: for example, the convent in Bruch became a hospice, and a dental practice (run by sisters) opened in the convent of the Auerbach School Sisters in Bamberg.

Many of these transformation processes have to do with farewells for the monastic community concerned. "But the earlier you start to think about your own future, the more you still have it in your hands," says Sister Josefa. She and 23 fellow sisters moved out of the Schlehdorf convent and into a new building that was designed from the start to be age-appropriate and barrier-free. The historic convent building was sold to a housing cooperative that rents out rooms there as part of so-called cluster living, i.e. a communal form of living, and has set up studios and offices. So the sisters are only visiting the Schlehdorf convent.

Whether a community can stay in its building or has to move out depends on various factors: How many sisters are there left, do they have the money to make their own contribution to the renovation - and is it worth it? "In the end, it is always up to the negotiations with the subsequent owners whether they can, for example, acquire the convent more cheaply in return for the sisters receiving, for example, a lifelong right of residence," Rose explains.

Burden taken off the shoulders

The sisters in Schlehdorf, however, are happy about the solution that has been found: "A great burden has been lifted from our shoulders," says Sister Josefa. For the search for this solution had dragged on: At first, the sisters had thought of a church re-use, but the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising was not interested. Charitable organisations also did not want to have the representative building, most of which dates back to the 18th century. With a housing cooperative, however, the sisters were then at least able to implement their community idea in the subsequent use.

Such a beautiful monastery - and nobody wants it? That's because of the many legal requirements. Large, listed properties cannot be run cost-effectively as old people's homes, for example, under the current care rates and safety requirements (the biggest item is now fire protection), says Rose. "And the established church often does not want to burden itself with these additional obligations. They themselves face major tasks with their own building stock." At the same time, however, there are great opportunities for new (co-)uses, especially in the case of monasteries in inner cities due to the desirability of the housing market.

Rose therefore always has a tip for religious communities: "Talk to mayors and district councillors as early as possible about the fact that you need to change. Then strategic partnerships can be formed - depending on the location with social organisations, cultural institutions or the public sector. For example, a school in Upper Bavaria was able to do without a new building because it was able to move into a monastery building.

Guiding principles for good re-use

It is important that a solution must fit the monastery community. The old monastery church as a climbing gym or gymnasium? That is not for everyone. After all, a church is often the most difficult space to repurpose. The chapel in Schlehdorf Monastery has also been profaned; it is a storage room during the conversion phase. The large, magnificent monastery church has served as a parish church since secularisation, so it is not affected. So it is also emotionally important to make a viable decision for one's own chapel or church. "The best way to do that is with a mission statement, if possible no more than one page long," says Rose. On it are important values and cornerstones of what the community envisions for the future of its buildings and properties. "With this, the sisters can match who and what fits them and their motherhouses and abbeys in the future."

There are already promising examples from everyday parish life with regard to churches. In St. Ingbert, for example, the former St. Hildegard Church has been converted into the auditorium of the adjacent school, and in Münster the Christ the King Church has been converted into housing for homeless people over 65. Both of these are very gentle solutions, whereas in the Netherlands they go much further with youth hostels or pubs in old churches.

The question of what to do with monasteries as the number of religious decreases is still in its infancy in Germany. In view of the rapidly declining numbers, the question of whether monastery buildings can merely be sold as stone structures or whether they can be used profitably for society as a whole is becoming more and more virulent. The examples from the Netherlands show: There are many possibilities. Each monastery must ask itself which of these are compatible with the intentions of the religious communities.

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Cathcon:  The Second Vatican Council can be seen by its fruits.  Why do they continually try to implement it.  Decades of failure and decay.