Have you ever felt the weight of history beneath your feet? The Redemptoristenkloster Bonn stands before you a testament to centuries of change. This isn’t just a building it’s a living record of Bonn’s past.
The Redemptoristenkloster Bonn began its life in the 14th century. It wasn’t always a monastery though. Initially it served as a leprosarium a place where people suffering from leprosy found refuge. Small dwellings sheltered the afflicted a Lazarus chapel added in 1412 offering solace and prayer. Leprosy’s decline in the 18th century led to the leprosarium’s closure in 1713. It was repurposed as a farmstead its earnings directed towards charitable causes.
A significant shift occurred in 1868. The Catholic Association of Bonn purchased the property from the city’s poor relief administration. They transformed it into an orphanage and educational institution St. Joseph on the Heights. Tragedy struck. By the end of World War I the institution was bankrupt. Its building stood empty briefly serving as a field hospital during the war.
The Redemptoristen order acquired the buildings in 1920. They established a religious school with a boarding school Collegium Josephinum and a monastery for the teaching priests. The Nazi regime dissolved the school and monastery in 1940 using the site for a teacher training college until 1944. It later served as a hospital and military quarters. The Redemptorists resumed their school and monastic life in 1945.
Today the Redemptoristenkloster Bonn maintains a school a retirement home assisted living and a youth hostel. Twenty-three brothers resided there in 2011. The monastery church St. Joseph on the Heights stands as a remarkable example of neo-Gothic architecture. Built between 1883 and 1887 by architect Heinrich Wiethase it boasts a vibrant interior and a neo-Gothic high altar from 1907. A priceless Lazarus statue with a collecting bowl dating back to the 16th century originally from the leprosarium’s chapel remains one of the most valuable artworks.
The Redemptoristenkloster Bonn’s journey reflects the ebb and flow of history. From caring for the sick to educating children from wartime hardship to spiritual renewal. It’s a story of resilience adaptation and enduring faith a story embedded in the very stones of this remarkable place.