New Leadership at Hegne Abbey and Changes to the Board of Directors of the Hegne Abbey Foundation
Since February 2023, Hegne Abbey has had a new executive director and the Hegne Abbey Foundation has had a new board chair: Professor Dr. Florian Kluger has taken over these roles from Thomas Scherrieb, who retired after 23 years of dedicated service at the abbey.
Kluger had served as director and managing director of the Institute for Social Professions (IfSB) in Ravensburg, Wangen/Isny, Bad Wurzach, and Ulm since 2020. During this time, he served as chair of the diocesan vocational school advisory board and as a member of the board of trustees of the Foundation for Catholic Independent Schools of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart. Previously, he served as a professor at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (KU), where he held various leadership positions, including vice dean and senator. After moving to Ravensburg, he was appointed honorary professor at the KU in 2021. Since 2022, he has served on a volunteer basis as a permanent deacon in the Ravensburg-Mitte Catholic pastoral care unit.
Through the Hegne Monastery Foundation’s involvement as a shareholder in the IfSB Ravensburg, he became familiar with Hegne Monastery and its work. The monastery and foundation’s forward-looking and values-driven areas of activity convinced him to move to Hegne: “Helping to shape this spiritually grounded place—with its schools, nursing home, hotel, in-house operations, administration, and the Theodosius Academy—motivates me to take on this exciting challenge,” explains Kluger.
Provincial Superior Sister Maria Paola Zinniel emphasizes: “Together with Professor Kluger and all our staff, we will continue to lead the convent and the foundation into the future in a professional manner and on the basis of Christian values.” Sister Benedicta-Maria Kramer, the foundation’s vice chair, echoes this sentiment and looks forward to the collaboration: “With Professor Kluger, we can continue on the path we have chosen to strengthen the foundation.”
(Photo, from left to right: Sr. Maria Paola Zinniel, Prof. Dr. Florian Kluger, Sr. Benedicta-Maria Kramer)