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🕯️ Monastery stay and retreat days

Silence, structure and distance from daily life – a paid, low-threshold offer, open to people without a religion too.

Monastery stay (Kloster auf Zeit) Retreat days Spiritual exercises (Exerzitien) Monastery guesthouse

In brief

Many monasteries offer guesthouses for a time-limited stay – often called "Kloster auf Zeit" (monastery for a while), frequently intended for at least about 5 days. Some houses expect help in the monastery's work areas (then partly free of charge or on a donation basis); others charge a flat rate per night with meals – the examples found range from around €20–40/day to over €100/day, depending on the house, room category and meals. Religious affiliation is required or expected at most, but not all, houses; this should be asked about in advance.

A more structured, guided variant is spiritual exercises (Exerzitien) (e.g. in the Ignatian tradition) with fixed accompaniment, as opposed to the more unaccompanied "guest in the monastery".

Step by step

  1. Choose a monastery or directoryFind a suitable house via directories such as kloster-auf-zeit.de (a private information service) or the websites of individual monasteries.
  2. Ask about the conditionsClarify in advance: minimum length of stay, costs, whether help is expected, whether people without a religion are welcome, whether taking part in the monastery's daily rhythm is compulsory or voluntary.
  3. Book in good timePopular houses are often fully booked weeks in advance, especially during the holidays.

Deadlines

Watch out – common mistakes
  • A monastery stay is no substitute for professional help in acute mental health crises or suicidal thoughts – emergency services are responsible for that, see "When professional help is needed".
  • Not every house takes guests for less than the usual minimum stay or without religious affiliation – clarify this in advance rather than being turned away on arrival.
  • The price examples given are individual cases from the research, not a universally valid price list – costs vary greatly from house to house.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals

Examples from the research (no price guarantee)

To illustrate the range: at Kloster Wennigsen, a night was quoted at around €41/day in a single room; at the Benedictine monastery Disentis (Switzerland) at around CHF 115/day in a single room with full board; some houses offer the stay free of charge or on a donation basis in return for help. These figures come from the respective monastery websites at the time of research and may change.

Not a state-regulated offer

Monastery guesthouses are privately organised services of the respective religious community; there is no state supervision or funding specifically for this form of stay.

Who is responsible
  • The respective monastery/guesthouse (no state responsibility)
Further reading
Faith, spirituality and worldviewPhilosophical life counselling

Quick questions

Worum geht es bei „Monastery stay and retreat days“?
Silence, structure and distance from daily life – a paid, low-threshold offer, open to people without a religion too.
What should I do first?
  • Choose a monastery or directory: Find a suitable house via directories such as kloster-auf-zeit.de (a private information service) or the websites of individual monasteries.
  • Ask about the conditions: Clarify in advance: minimum length of stay, costs, whether help is expected, whether people without a religion are welcome, whether taking part in the monastery's daily rhythm is compulsory or voluntary.
  • Book in good time: Popular houses are often fully booked weeks in advance, especially during the holidays.
What do I need to watch out for?
  • A monastery stay is no substitute for professional help in acute mental health crises or suicidal thoughts – emergency services are responsible for that, see "When professional help is needed".
  • Not every house takes guests for less than the usual minimum stay or without religious affiliation – clarify this in advance rather than being turned away on arrival.
  • The price examples given are individual cases from the research, not a universally valid price list – costs vary greatly from house to house.
Evidence
  • Websites of individual monastery guesthouses (including Kloster Wennigsen, Kloster Disentis, Abtei Münsterschwarzach), retrieved September 2026
  • kloster-auf-zeit.de as a private directory – not official, no guarantee of completeness or quality
As of

As of September 2026 · Sources and method

A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.