Kloster Seligenthal, Franciscan monastery in Siegburg, Germany
Kloster Seligenthal is a Franciscan monastery in Siegburg featuring a church built in Rhenish transitional architectural style with substantial original medieval elements intact. The former cloister courtyard now forms part of a hotel complex while the church remains the focal point of the site.
The monastery was founded in 1231 by Count Heinrich von Sayn and his wife Mechthild von Landsberg, making it the oldest Franciscan church north of the Alps. In 1854 it was converted into a parish church, shifting from monastic community to broader public religious use.
The church continues to serve as a parish space where visitors encounter an active religious community and feel the spiritual continuity of centuries. The monastic spaces retain a sense of devotion that shapes how people move through and experience the building today.
The site now functions as part of a four-star hotel with conference facilities, which means some areas remain restricted to hotel guests and events. The church itself remains open for visitors to explore, though access to other parts of the monastery may be limited.
In 2018 a community of Carmelite hermits established themselves in the former rectory, creating the Saint Elijah Carmel community on the grounds. This new monastic presence brought fresh spiritual life to a location whose original identity had developed under a different religious order.
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