The Augustinians have started packing: before the 4th Advent, the first two friars move into the new building of the Maria Eich monastery in Planegg – right in the middle of the construction site.
The Christmas tree will also be there.
Planegg
– The future garden between the old and new buildings is full of cars.
The craftsmen parked there.
The drywaller works in the house chapel, the parquet layer in the refectory and the plumber in the boiler room.
The modernization and expansion of the Planegger Kloster Maria Eich is progressing.
In September 2021, the Augustinian convent, quietly located in the forest, went to the construction site, the shell construction was completed this spring, and the topping-out ceremony was celebrated in early July.
With the million-dollar project, the Augustinians are preparing for the future.
The old building from the 1950s is completely renovated.
From the outside it looks almost complete: the façade insulation is complete, the new windows are installed and the building has been given a fresh coat of gray paint.
Work in the north wing from January 9th
The work on the interior of the southern half is almost complete.
The four friars who live in the monastery have to vacate the northern half by January 9 so that they can also lend a hand there.
Father Christian Rentsch, the Prior of the monastery, and Subprior Father Alfred Issing will move into two of the four apartments in the new building next week.
The parquet has been laid, the silicone joints to the bathroom have been freshly drawn.
Construction site dust is everywhere.
In the corridor, which leads from the old building past the new common room and the house chapel at a right angle to the living area, there are materials and machines, a radio is playing.
The new kitchen was installed on the ground floor of the south wing at the end of November, black cupboards with oak-look worktops.
Because there are delivery problems with the refrigerators, cooking is still done in the old kitchen.
The furniture of the new kitchen is around the corner.
In the transition to the new building, a drinks fridge and coffee kitchen should make it easier to entertain the monastery guests, because the future refectory is right next to it.
"We quickly have ten, 20 guests," says Father Felix Meckl, the procurator of the monastery, who is responsible for the project and works closely with architect Clemens Pollok.
The living room gets a large, extendable dining table and a couch corner at the rear end.
The parquet layers started work last Wednesday.
The friars have chosen oak.
Inauguration last weekend in June
At the end of August, the 60 square meter room accommodated 75 people.
In "horrible weather" the Augustine festival was celebrated there.
The unfinished roof had been specially covered with foil.
“During the cloudburst at ten in the morning, the water came through.
The guests slipped into the back area.”
Father Felix hoped that the refectory would be ready by Christmas.
This is no longer possible.
The Christmas tree is put up there anyway, it doesn't fit in the dining room in the old building.
"We'll probably celebrate Christmas and New Year's Eve with a beer bench."
The house chapel is attached to the refectory at an angle to the new two-storey residential wing.
To the left of the entrance is the indentation into which the new time capsule is to be placed for the inauguration.
A confrere from the Augustinian monastery in Würzburg wrote the document on paper on which the ink and gilding will last for 200 years.
The date has been set: the Augustinians want to celebrate on the last weekend in June, with the companies that Father Felix calls “terrific”, the confreres of the Augustinian order and the helpers who help with painting, cleaning and clearing and who support the project with donations.
In the meantime, the costs have reached almost 5 million euros.
60 percent bear the Augustinians, convent and Bavarian-German religious province.
Because there are not enough funds, it will amount to a loan.
"It's an amazing challenge for the entire Augustinian province," says Father Felix.
“But to see how the people all around are supporting the project just gives you a good feeling.
It shows that it was the right decision.”
An open house is planned for Saturday, July 1st.
Those who then allow themselves to be guided through the monastery will find out that the plasterboard ceiling of the house chapel is shaped like abstract treetops that run towards concrete pillars symbolizing trunks.
At the moment the larch boards that Father Felix and Father Christian painted on Tuesday are drying in the chapel.
They are intended for the window reveals.
By far the largest part of the 700 square meter slats was painted at the end of October.
For three days the monks stood with their fellow campaigners in the hall of the carpenter who is making the rhombus formwork.
Father Felix' father also came with his best friend to help.
They'll be back by June at the latest – to celebrate.