Key Facts
• Sisters Bernadette (88), Rita (81), and Regina (86) lived most of their lives at Kloster Goldenstein Monastery near Salzburg, Austria.
• The monastery, which included a private girls’ school, was where all three worked as teachers, with Sister Regina serving as principal.
• In 2022, the monastery was transferred to the Salzburg Archdiocese and the Reichersberg Monastery of the Augustinian Order.
• Due to aging, the three nuns were moved to a church-run care facility in 2023 for medical care.
• The monastery was officially dissolved in early 2024, granting remaining nuns lifetime residency rights based on health and mental capacity.
• Dissatisfied with the care facility, the three nuns returned to the closed monastery with help from former students and villagers.
• Upon their return, the monastery lacked electricity and water, which have since been partially restored.
• Supporters now deliver food, and the nuns receive medical checkups while documenting their daily lives on Instagram.
• Chief Priest Markus Grassl criticized their actions, citing unsafe living conditions and inadequate care at the monastery.
• Grassl emphasized the care facility provided essential, high-quality medical services for their unstable health.
Summary
Three elderly nuns-Sisters Bernadette, Rita, and Regina-left a church-run care facility in Austria to return to their former monastery, Kloster Goldenstein, near Salzburg. The monastery, where they spent most of their lives as teachers, was dissolved in 2024. Dissatisfied with life at the care facility, they sought help from former students and locals to return, despite the building’s lack of basic utilities. Supporters have since restored partial electricity and water, provided food, and arranged medical checkups. The nuns now live as the last residents of the monastery, sharing their daily lives on Instagram. Chief Priest Markus Grassl criticized their decision, citing unsafe conditions and the care facility’s superior medical services. The situation highlights the challenges of balancing elderly care with personal autonomy.
