Faith Matters

There are not many Protestant convents in Germany, and most of those that do exist are less than 100 years old. However, the Lutheran convent at Schwanberg, where nuns follow the sixth-century Rule of St. Benedict, is unique.

In a sense, the community grew out of the Girl Guide Movement, which was banned by the Nazis in 1942. Eight Lutheran girl guides in Bavaria continued to meet secretly at a local Catholic monastery, where they were deeply impressed by the Benedictine way of life. After the war, they founded their own Evangelical Lutheran monastery, the Casteller Ring Community. The abbot who befriended them made no attempt to convert them to Catholicism, but he encouraged them to live according to a monastic rule. The young women adopted the Rule of St. Benedict with its emphasis on a combination of prayer and manual work. This was unprecedented in the German Protestant Church and for fifteen years the sisters followed their vocation more or less clandestinely. Finally, they registered their community and moved into an old castle, Schwanberg Schloss. Today, thirty nuns live here and hundreds of visitors come each year to relax, reflect on their lives or take part the many spiritual courses that the nuns offer. These activities provide the community with an annual income of 3 million euros.

In this report, we explore the history of this unique religious community and follow the daily life of the sisters of Schwanberg.