Only a few women and men today decide to live in a monastery, the religious communities are faced with great challenges.
In Schlehdorf, the focus is now on networking.
Schlehdorf
- A non-profit association has been founded in Schlehdorf that wants to create a network when monasteries have to be abandoned and given a new use.
It is called "Future Cultural Space Monastery".
The project is aimed at religious orders, possible subsequent users as well as municipalities and all official bodies that are involved in such a process.
A portal on the Internet is planned that will make a lot of information accessible, also with regard to the different regulations in the federal states.
In January there was a first large online conference, starting in Schlehdorf, in which many questions about the structure of the network were discussed.
Schlehdorf: Association “Kulturraum Kloster” founded
The fact that religious orders are dying out and that new users are being sought for historical monasteries is an immense challenge in many municipalities in Germany.
One is currently in such a process in Schlehdorf.
As reported, the Schlehdorfer Mission Dominicans sold the historic building to the housing cooperative (Wogeno) at the end of 2019
Munich, which is giving the house a new use as the so-called "Cohaus Kloster Schlehdorf".
Wogeno is renovating the building and creating a new type of living community and work model (“cluster”) with conference and cultural event options.
However, there are considerable challenges associated with this, for example for various government offices and agencies.
In Schlehdorf, too, it is still unclear whether the conversion process will go as planned.
The association takes a targeted look at the transformation of monasteries
Against this background, the association was founded.
Founding members of “Future Cultural Space Monastery” include Sister Josefa Thusbaß from the Mission Dominicans, Peter Schmidt (on the board of Wogeno Munich) and the cultural manager Ulrike Rose, board member of the Federal Foundation for Building Culture.
She recently became one of the new tenants in the Cohaus.
The association not only wants to draw attention to the importance of the monasteries, the building culture and the cultural areas, but also has a targeted focus on transformation.
The preamble reads that the aim is to “support the development of new opportunities for subsequent use and further use with committed partners, which will carefully transfer the cultural heritage into the future”.
The founding members are networked in many ways in their fields and organized an online conference with 24 participants in mid-January, reports Ulrike Rose.
Among them were representatives of the Federal Ministry of the Interior with State Secretary Markus Kerber, the Bavarian Conservator General Matthias Pfeil, representatives of the Bavarian State Ministry for Housing, Building and Transport, a representative of the government of Upper Bavaria and employees of the Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research.
Members of religious orders also took part, for example Abbot Hermann Josef Kugler from the Conference of German Superiors and Sister Josefa Thusbaß as an economist at Schlehdorf Monastery.
Also in the group were experts for fire protection and property issues, from foundations as well as Peter Schmidt from Wogeno Munich and Georg Malterer, the mayor of Bernried.
Here the community wants to buy the monastery.
Religious communities have to network with authorities and municipalities
The Schlehdorfer Verein is already opening the door to the project.
It was included in the Federal Ministry of the Interior's funding program “Shaping the Region” and, according to Rose, receives a grant of 200,000 euros.
State Secretary Markus Kerber said at the conference that the conversion of the monasteries should enable the rural area to remain attractive as a place to work and live.
Many questions were discussed in the online conference: How can religious orders and interested parties - such as cooperatives - come together in the open real estate market?
“It was pure coincidence here in Schlehdorf,” reported Sister Josefa Thusbaß.
She wished that other religious orders would have an easier time than she did then.
How can a viable new overall concept then be developed?
How can one involve the order members in the process?
What should be done in the case of multi-layer ownership?
Which positions in the authorities and church administration are actually all necessarily involved in a monastery transformation?
If you want to sell a monastery, you first stand like an ox in front of the mountain
Sister Josefa Thusbaß
Last but not least, it was also about the role of the municipality.
"Any potential re-use also requires the consent of the municipality, which is responsible for the whole place," says the protocol.
After all, the village community always has a strong relationship with “their” monastery.
Sister Josefa Thusbaß was very pleased after this first conference round.
“If you want to sell a monastery, you first stand like an ox in front of the mountain,” she recalls of the Dominican missions' own experiences.
Passing on knowledge about this process and exchanging ideas is very important: “Not everyone should go through the same problems.
That takes time. ”Culture manager Rose is also happy about the openness.
"I got to know the Schlehdorf religious women as very emancipated, strong personalities."
The portal should go online in summer and then grow steadily. Among other things, work is currently underway to provide examples of successful monastery transformations. The organizers are in contact with religious orders in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Thuringia and North Rhine-Westphalia.
