Biography
Brother Alois was born in 1954 in Bavaria where his parents had settled after being expelled from Czechoslovakia after World War II as ethnic Germans. He grew up in Stuttgart. Unlike his Protestant predecessor, Brother Roger, Brother Alois is a Catholic. As a teenager he was an altar-boy and a youth leader in St. Nikolaus parish in eastern Stuttgart. Later he studied theology in Lyon, though he never became a priest. When he first visited the Taizé Community, it impressed him deeply. He soon became a so-called permanent (a person living in Taizé for an extended period though not a Brother of Taize), then, in 1974, a member of the community.
Brother Alois was chosen by Brother Roger as his successor in 1998. He became the prior of the community after the death of Brother Roger in 2005. In recent years, Brother Alois has represented the community in numerous public events and has given a large number of interviews. He is known for his musical talent and has written many of the newer Taizé songs which are sung throughout the world today.
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