Communität Casteller Ring

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Communität Casteller Ring (CCR) is a women’s religious order in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. It was founded by Christel Schmid (1892–1970). During World War II she and seven young Christian women formed a group of Christian Girl Guides, which was formalised in 1946. The CCR grew out of the Bavarian Girl Guide Movement Bund Christlicher Pfadfinderinnen after the war. Sister Schmid led the community until 1969, when Maria Scholasika Pfister became prioress. In 2025, the prioress is Sr. Ursula Teresa Buske. The community lives by the Benedictine Rule, and its main convent (the mother house) is in Schwanberg. From 1996 until Easter 2011, the sisters staffed St. Augustine's Monastery in Erfurt, where Martin Luther lived as a monk. The order has close ties to Münsterschwarzach Abbey. In 2025, CCR runs the Schwanberg Spiritual Center, which includes a convent, three guest houses and a café. Guests can receive spiritual guidance and take courses in liturgical singing, psalms, Bible study, meditation, grief counselling and music therapy. In 2025, there are 38 sisters living under the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in the Benedictine Rule. CCR also has oblates and a circle of friends.