Monastery of Saint Raphael

The Montenau monastery is located in an old country house, which the Antwerp merchant Grisar had built only a few years before the start of the First World War (1914 – 1918) in the vicinity of the "Wolfsbusch".

In 1928 the Missionaries of Steyl (SVD for short) bought this building, which was very well furnished for the circumstances of the time, and they founded the monastery "St. Raphael".

The monastery of Montenau, which was initially intended as a convalescent home for the Missionaries of Steyl, was considerably enlarged in 1938. This building served during the Second World War (1940 – 45) as a convalescent home for soldiers of the German Wehrmacht. In the winter of 1944 – 45 (battle of the Ardennes) there were ten operating tables and in a few weeks about 70 soldiers died.

In the years 1945 to 1951 the "Bischöflische Schule" (B.S) was located in the so-called new building of the monastery. There were two reasons: First, no education could take place in St. Vith, because the city and also the B.S. were completely destroyed. Secondly, the so-called new building of the monastery could serve well as a school building for secondary education for the time being. Since the departure of the B.S. in 1951, the house has been open to schools, associations, private individuals, courses, study days and retreats. In the old building, the villa Grisar, a small missionary-contemplative community of men and women has been living since 1987.

RicoM