Kloster Helgoland, Franciscan monastery in Mayen, Germany

Kloster Helgoland is a former Franciscan convent near Mayen, Rhineland-Palatinate. Its long, two-story building has a white stucco facade, a steep dark grey slate roof with small dormer windows and dark shutters, and a central triangular gable above the entrance. A wooden door sits within a rounded porch canopy, with a tall conical evergreen to its right.

The Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Family founded the monastery in 1922 after relocating from Belgium, with its consecration taking place in September 1923. The community shaped life at this location for more than eighty years.

The monastery served as a gathering place for prayer meetings and quiet reflection days organized by the local Kolping Association of the Diocese of Trier. People came here to pray together and spend time in contemplation.

The former monastery lies in the Nettetal valley northwest of Mayen, not in the town centre, and Mayen has no tram service. The site is now privately owned and was converted into flats for students and families, so the buildings are not open to visitors. The outdoor religious features, including the listed Stations of the Cross, are to be kept intact.

The restaurant that gave the site its name burned down shortly before the First World War; the sisters then took over its ruins near Mayen. Many establishments of the Kaiser era were named after the island of Helgoland, then a focus of national enthusiasm. The monastery closed at the end of 2010, when the youngest remaining sister was already 70.