The Sisters of the Augustinerkloster

(from Friday, April 26)

In the city of Erfurt stands the Augustinian monastery where Martin Luther lived as a monk from 1505 to 1508. After Luther's Reformation swept Germany, the monastic life faded away--the last monk of the order Luther knew here died in 1556. And for centuries after, the buildings housed schools, libraries, government offices, museums, and other secular concerns.

Now, after nearly five hundred years, the monastic life is flourishing again at the Augustinerkloster. Six Lutheran women, one of whom is an ordained pastor, live in community according to the ancient Benedictine rule. They are part of a twentieth-century renewal of religious life in Germany--the Castellar Ring of which they are a part was founded in 1950. The sisters have been here at the Augustinerkloster since 1996.

We joined the sisters at midday prayer, which they sing together in the Augustinerkirche where Martin Luther prayed so many years ago, and then enjoyed lunch in the refectory.

How do Lutheran monastic sisters live today? We talked with one of the sisters later that afternoon. She told us that the goal of their common life is to seek God in all things and prefer nothing to Christ. The sisters take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, owning nothing individually and sharing all things in common. Paychecks and pension checks go into the common chest. Most of the sisters have jobs outside the cloister; the sister we spoke to is a physical therapist. The sisters work not only to support the community, but in order to share the condition of their neighbors.

The sisters pray together four times a day in the Augustinerkirche: 7 am, noon, 6 pm, and 7:30 pm; and celebrate Holy Communion every Sunday at 9:30 (with kirchekaffee afterward in the klosterstube!). They wear habits (long loose gray gowns, not very different from albs) only for the liturgy; the rest of the time they wear ordinary clothes and a cross pendant. There are now about 20 groups of Lutheran sisters in Germany. The sisters elect a prioress for a term and meet together in chapter every few weeks to talk over matters of concern. Every sister has a voice in the chapter.

An important part of their mission is to be engaged with the world outside the monastery. They are active in ecumenical conferences as well as with other religious communities and monasteries. And they maintain neighborhood and family ties.

The community maintains a guest house and conference center (several of our travelers stayed there), and of course, the klosterstube or café, a popular place among neighborhood students and retired people.


The Benedictine way of life emphasizes hospitality, welcoming the guest as one would welcome Christ. The bold and faithful sisters of the Augustinerkloster truly welcomed us in that spirit.