© NELE STROEBEL

hortus conclusus – monastery garden

Questions to the nuns

The nuns were requested previously to answer the following questions.
Excerpts of the answers will appear in the catalog that accompanies the exhibition.

1. Which part of the hortus conclusus do you visit; what do you do there?
2. What do you like to do best in the garden?
3. What does the isolated convent garden mean to you? Is it a secret place?
4. As a young nun, how did you experience the garden?
5. How has the garden changed in the course of your life here in the convent?
6. Has its outer form changed?
7. Please describe your hortus conclusus. What makes it special?
8. Is the garden an important meeting point in convent life or do you tend to go there alone?
9. Did you ever have key spiritual experiences in the garden that you would like to report on?
   Key words for these might include 'garden of remembrance', 'garden of paradise', 'growth processes', 'earthly pleasures in God', 'becoming and passing', 'the garden as a sensorial experience', 'seeing colors and forms', 'fertility symbol', 'Maria-garden', 'a breath of introspection'.
10. Does the term 'garden' also mean something to you in the figurative sense?
11. Are you a gardner?
12. Does any other question occur to you? Have I forgotten to mention any important subject or aspect?