History
The community, dedicated to Saint Joseph, was founded in 1899 on the land of the Hof Wermelt, a farm given for the purpose by the Wermelt family, by the monks of Beuron Archabbey. It was formally declared an abbey in 1904. The first abbot was ordained in 1906, Raphael Molitor OSB. In 1941 the community was expelled from Westphalia by order of the National Socialists, but the monks were able to return in 1946. In 1951 the community was able to establish a further monastery: Nütschau Priory (Kloster Nütschau) near Bad Oldesloe.
There is a graveyard in the abbey grounds, where among others there are buried Russian prisoners of war and deceased patients from the military hospital which occupied the premises in World War II.
The abbey is part of the Beuronese Congregation. As of 2012, the community numbers 43 monks.
Read more about this topic: Gerleve Abbey
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