Arnstein Fathers

The Arnstein Monastery in Obernhof near Nassau was the first branch of the Arnstein Fathers in Germany.

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary – the short form of the official name of the Arnstein Fathers (order abbreviation SSCC) – was founded in 1800 by the French priest Pierre Coudrin and the noblewoman Henriette Aymer de la Chevalerie. The community had taken over the former Premonstratensian abbey in 1919 and established a German province in 1920.

The history of the monastery goes back to the second half of the 11th century. 

From 1924 onwards, the monastery, situated high above the Lahn, was a popular place of pilgrimage to the Sacred Heart. Later the religious community also maintained an international youth meeting centre in Arnstein Monastery and looked after the parishes in the surrounding area from there.

Late 2018, the Arnstein Fathers left the Arnstein Monastery due to the ageing of the community. Prior to this, the branch in Lahnstein in the Nahe region, where the community had run a large school, had already been abandoned. Twelve Greek Orthodox sisters inhabit the monastery since 1 June 2019.

• Entry on Arnstein Castle in the scientific database “EBIDAT” of the European Castle Institute (https://www.ms-visucom.de/cgi-bin/ebidat.pl?id=694)

• Website of the Arnstein Fathers: https://arnsteiner-patres.de