Monastic life in St Boniface

In 2000, I had the unique opportunity to create a reportage in the monastery of St Boniface in Munich as part of my final year project in photo design. My aim was to document the monks’ monastic life and in particular their work in caring for the homeless, serving food and providing clothing for the needy.

The monastery of St Boniface is an impressive place of tranquillity and retreat in the middle of the hectic city of Munich. The monks live according to the strict rules of the Benedictine order and dedicate themselves to their monastic life with devotion and discipline. In addition to their spiritual commitment, they also take on social responsibility and help those in need in society.

For my documentary, I was given permission to accompany the monks’ daily lives and to record their activities in the area of caring for the homeless. I was impressed by the humility and kindness with which the monks met people in need. They opened their doors and hearts and offered the homeless not only food and clothing, but also a sympathetic ear and words of comfort.

Serving food was, and still is, a central task of the monastery. The monks prepared hot meals every day and distributed them to the needy.

In addition to serving food, the monks also organised clothing donations for the homeless. They collected clothes from parishioners and carefully sorted them to make them available to those in need. This task made it clear how important it was to the monks not only to give people material help, but also to preserve their dignity.