Volkenroda is located in a small village of only 200 or so residents on the outskirts of Muehlhausen, a small city in former East Germany. Although the fourth Cistercian abbey in Germany was established here in the 12th Century, buffeted about by inevitable changes in history, it eventually fell into ruins. In 1968, the building was finally condemned due to its unsafe condition. However, in 1994, the Brotherhood of Jesus, Gnadenthal, rediscovered this land as a place of retreat and meditation, and it was brought back to life as a religious facility. A community of living, learning and working was reborn. Furthermore, it has been selected as one of twelve "sustainable rural development models" in all of Germany thanks to its array of facilities, which includes an organic farming facility.

This building, which is used as an assembly hall for Volkenroda Abbey, was originally built as the Pavilion of Christ, cooperatively constructed by the Catholic and Protestant Churches for the Hannover Expo 2000. This design was selected from six proposals submitted by five teams of architects in the design competition held for the planning of Expo 2000. Following the Expo, the pavilion was dismantled and, except for only a few differences such as the absence of the glass cross steeple and crypt and the location of the pond, was reconstructed according to plan in its original form here in Volkenroda.

(written by editor)