The Karlstadt Capuchin monastery stood on the site of the New Town Hall until October 1974. Today, only a remnant of a wall and an archway from 1981 remind us of the building, but they are not in the original location.
The monastery building Construction only began in 1670 on the "Schützenanger" outside the city walls of Karlstadt. A year later, the roof of the convent building was completed. Citizens had made the land available, they helped with building materials, labor and day labor. On August 5, 1674, the church of the "Virgin Mary of the Angels" was built. The priests and brothers lived in 19 cells in the new monastery "Zum Helfenstein". The route from the city to the monastery was made easier by a newly created entrance in the eastern city wall over the city moat. The gate was secured by a drawbridge, the Schneller. Today, the so-called Schnellertor has also disappeared. Schnellergasse is now called "Alte Bahnhofstraße". In the 18th century, the Capuchins also took over the preaching services in the town church of St. Andreas and looked after the Latin school.
Secularization After the diocese of Würzburg was transferred to the monarchy, secularization took hold in Karlstadt. On June 13, 1804, the Bavarian district judge, formerly the bishop's official cellar, dissolved the convent. Seven priests and six brothers, each paid three guilders in travel expenses, had to leave Karlstadt immediately. The church was cleared out and converted into a salt warehouse, and the monastery garden was leased to Karlstadt citizens. The monastery was converted into a wine tavern on holidays and after cattle markets.
The restitution of the Capuchins in Karlstadt Grand Duke Ferdinand II approved the restoration of the monastery building on July 6, 1808. Five weeks later, on August 16, the people cheered the returning members of the order. The people of Karlstadt again helped with the clean-up work and repairing the most serious damage, so that the blessing of the monastery church could take place on October 4th. Just three years later, in 1811, the convent in Karlstadt was again threatened with closure. There was a lack of new members, which was addressed by merging the Franconian and Bavarian Capuchin provinces in 1836. The restored church, furnished in the historicist style, was consecrated in 1856.
New pastoral care in the parish of the Holy Family On September 1, 1965, the Capuchin convent took over the newly founded parish of the Holy Family. From October 1966 until they moved into the new monastery building on Bodelschwinghstrasse in May 1969, the members of the order lived in the sisters' apartment in the parish hall of St. Andreas. The monastery in the Holy Family was dissolved on September 1, 1976. The three remaining priests and one brother moved to other monasteries of their order.
The inglorious end In 1973, the city of Karlstadt bought the monastery grounds for urban development reasons. On September 11, 1974, at 2 a.m., with the consent of the city, the monastery building, which had since been emptied and desecrated, fell victim to a fire for a fire department film. Even the Bavarian Monument Protection Act, which came into force on October 1, 1973, could no longer prevent the end of the monastery. Today, a Remnants of the wall with archway, a memorial plaque and the wooden cross from the Capuchin cemetery commemorate the fruitful, pastoral period and 300 years of harmonious coexistence between the city and the monastery.