About Schoenstatt

Schoenstatt, the Origin and World Center of the International Schoenstatt Movement

Schoenstatt, in the town of Vallendar near Koblenz, Germany, is the place of origin and the world center of the International Schoenstatt Movement.

Every day pilgrims from all over the world travel to the Original Shrine, the center of Schoenstatt, both as a Marian place of pilgrimage and as an International Ecclesial Movement with twenty independent communities.

In Schoenstatt, people are looking for orientation, a home, renewed strength, and spirit to live their faith in everyday life as a way for bringing the love of Christ to the world. Schoenstatt originates in the Covenant of Love with Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Father Joseph Kentenich (1885 – 1968) along with a group of young men from the Pallotine Seminary, founded Schoenstatt when their young sodality sealed their Covenant of Love with the Blessed Mother on October 18, 1914.

Father Kentenich spent several years in the concentration camp in Dachau. His love for the Church proved to be steadfast in times of rejection and anxiety. He died on September 15, 1968, in the Adoration Church on Mount Schoenstatt, where he is entombed.

All over the world, around 200 Schoenstatt Centers have been erected; the focal point of each of them is an exact replica of the Original Shrine in Schoenstatt.

Through the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign, several million people in over 110 countries on all continents are in contact with the stream of life and grace from the Schoenstatt Shrine.