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Benedictine Abbey Gerleve
The Benedictine Abbey Gerleve is situated between Coesfeld and Billerbeck in Westphalia in a south side valley on the Coesfelder Hill in 125m above sea level. The monastery was founded as a farming gift by the estate Wermelt by monks of the abbey Beuron in 1899 and in 1904 elevated to an abbey. Patron saint is the holy Joseph.
In 1941, the community was expelled from the abbey in the course of the 'monastery tower' by the national socialists at a ban of residence in the provinces Rhineland and Westphalia. The padres Augustin Hessing (1897–1975) and Gregor Schwake (1892–1967), went to the KZ Dachau. The monastery building was used partly as a home for the NS-Volkswohlfahrt 'Mother and Child', partly as 'NS-Lehrhof (teaching ground) for the Hitler-youth of the district Westphalia North'. Shortly before the end of the Second World War the air force military hospital moved into the building on the 11th of February 1945. After the liberation on the 30th of March 1945, served this military hospital for the injured of all nations, first under the US-American, then under Sovjet and lastly under Polish control. Many of the injured died. 200 dead were buried in the monastery graveyard.
The monks return to Gerleve in 1946. In 1951, the community founded another monastery, the monastery Nütschau near Bad Oldesloein Schleswig-Holstein. Several monks work here scientifically, others do pastoral work, work in the guesthouses, the book shop or tends to the garden. One of the most well-known Gerleve monks, is the church musician and poet Gregor Schwake. In November 2010, the convent counts 45 members among them a Dane and a Swede as well as a triennal religious vows.
As a sign of Benedictine hospitality, has the abbey two large guesthouses, for adults the Exerzitienhaus Ludgerirast with 47 rooms, and for youngsters the youth-educational centre House St. Benedikt with 80 spaces. In the monastery itself are ten guest rooms available for male visitors. The architects Wilhelm Rincklake, Dominikus Böhm, Josef Paul Kleihues and Ulrich Hahn contributed to the farming ensemble. The monastery library encompasses nearly 200.000 volumes. In 2008, the Foundation Abbey Gerleve was created to support the abbey.
