Kolleg St. Ludwig is a

Maharishi European Research University Transcendental Meditation in education (also known as Consciousness-Based Education) is the application of the Transcendental Meditation technique in an educational setting or institution. These educational programs and institutions have been found ...

(MERU) campus located in

Vlodrop Vlodrop ( li, Vlórp, ) is a village in the south-eastern part of The Netherlands in the municipality of Roerdalen. The village is situated near the German border, about 8 km southeast of Roermond. History The village was first mentioned in ...

, The

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It was originally built in 1909, used as a Franciscan friary and boarding school and purchased by the

Maharishi Foundation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promot ...

in 1984. The campus is near the villages of

Vlodrop-station Vlodrop-station ( Limburgish and town dialect: Vlórp-Statie) is a hamlet in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located on the German border, about east of the village Vlodrop, in the municipality of Roerdalen. The hamlet is named after the ...

and

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

, the

, adjacent to the Dutch–German border and the defunct

Iron Rhine The Iron Rhine or Steel Rhine ( nl, IJzeren Rijn; german: Eiserner Rhein) is a partially nonoperational freight railway connecting the port of Antwerp (Belgium) and Mönchengladbach (Germany) by way of Neerpelt and the Dutch towns of Weert and ...

railroad, and is surrounded by

Meinweg National Park De Meinweg National Park (''Nationaal Park De Meinweg'') is a national park in Limburg, Netherlands. It is about 1800 hectares (7 sq. mi.) in size and was established in 1995. In 2002 it became part of the Maas-Swalm-Nette park, a transboundary ...

.MERU, Holland

History

A group of Franciscan brothers from

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

purchased the land from the owner of a castle in the southern Limburg region of the Netherlands.

The college was named after

Saint Louis of Toulouse Saint Louis of Toulouse (9 February 1274 – 19 August 1297), also known as Louis of Anjou, was a Neapolitan prince of the Capetian House of Anjou and a Catholic bishop. Life Louis was born in Brignoles, Provence (or in Italy, at Nocera, whe ...

, a saint who was an heir to the throne of Napoli, but who renounced the throne and gave it to his younger brother, and himself became a Franciscan friar, took all the Franciscan vows and served the poor, the sick and the hungry. The seminary building was designed by a monk and featured 600 doors and 1,200 windows, all covered by of roof. Started in 1904 and completed in 1909, it was completely self-sufficient, with its own generators, workshops, wells, fields and orchards. A small-gauge railroad was built first to transport building materials and then to carry the 300 tons of coke used annually for heating. It was evacuated during World War II and reopened as a school in 1951. It closed in 1978. It was attended by over 3,000 male students. Kolleg St

The Franciscans sold the property to the Dutch government for use as a police training facility but it was never put to use. The Maharishi Foundation purchased the property in 1984 for US$900,000 and it later became the

(MERU) campus as well as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's movement headquarters and residence. The buildings were old, inefficient, in disrepair and did not meet the Maharishi's design standards so his organization entered a two-year "courtroom battle" with preservationists who tried to block the demolition of the Kollege St. Ludwig building which "was abandoned in 1978". A three-story, nearly life-sized canvas illustration of the intended replacement building was put up on the front side of the partially demolished building. The local government later ordered its removal. According to a 2008 report, the MERU Foundation indicated it would consider leaving the site if permission to demolish the old building was not granted.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolleg St. Ludwig Transcendental Meditation Buildings and structures in Limburg (Netherlands) Education in Limburg (Netherlands) Roerdalen