St. Maurus in Diessen has a new face
Created: 01/11/2022, 5:02 PM
Only the little tower on the roof is missing: the former, now demolished St. Maurus children's home in Dießen (left picture) and the new St. Maurus residential building for former children in the home.
© Dieter Roettig
It was not easy for the Benedictine nuns from the St. Alban Monastery to demolish the historic St. Maurus home on Dießener Birkenallee, which is steeped in history.
But the ravages of time left them no choice.
The sisters are all the more pleased that the replacement wooden structure is ready after only three weeks - even with the famous red shutters of the previous building on the ground floor.
Dießen - The apartments and flats at socially acceptable prices are primarily intended for home children who have fledged from the neighboring facility of the Benedictine nuns under the sponsoring association "Guardian Angel Sisters". If the young adults have to leave the home in St. Alban, they could soon move 500 meters further into the new St. Maurus house. An ideal solution for trainees who have little chance on the free housing market in the Ammersee region.
Before the existing building was demolished, Sister Ingeborg Ott had the Weilheim architect Florian Lechner checked whether the house could be renovated and converted into a residential building. The result of the inventory was sobering. Unfavorable cuts, damp masonry and a lack of fire, static and noise protection would have "led to a cost explosion due to incalculable additional costs during the renovation phase. The architect recommended demolition and new construction. This was approved by the Dießen Building and Environment Committee. Moved a little to the south-west, a new apartment building was built similar to the old building in terms of size and style.With four apartments with less than 50 square meters of living space for the adult home children and six also freely rentable apartments with over 50 square meters of space for people with middle incomes as well as 20 parking spaces. What is still missing is an outbuilding in which the garbage disposal, bicycle storage, heating center and technical room are housed.
"Unfortunately, we were not able to put the turret of the old building back on as a familiar landmark as planned," said Ingeborg Ott, director of the home. It is simply too dilapidated, but will be given a place of honor on the monastery grounds. The old building used as a farmstead was bought by the sisters from the neighboring farmer in 1950, named after the Benedictine monk Maurus, and used as a children's home until 1972. It later served as a rest home for children and as private day care. The eye-catching building with turrets and red shutters had been empty since 2011.
The Benedictine nuns from the St. Alban Monastery have been running their children's home since 1923.
The inpatient youth welfare facility takes care of children and young people who, due to deficits in their socialization field or in their personal development, temporarily or permanently need a home education.
The facility currently has 75 home places.
As a rule, when the teenagers are grown up, they should leave the home.
There are five places for “internally assisted living as a transition form to an independent life”, but these are by far not enough.
The new St. Maurus house is an ideal solution, as the Diessen municipal council had already determined in the preliminary construction inquiry - the agreement was therefore given without much discussion.
Dieter Roettig