Taizé Community
The Community of Taizé
A Place of Listening, Reconciliation, and Silence
In a small village in Burgundy, on a gentle hill near Cluny, something deeply unusual was created in 1940. The young Swiss theology student Roger Schutz, later known as Frère Roger, settled in Taizé to offer shelter to people in need. What began with taking in refugees became a lifelong project: from this act of solidarity grew a community that still attracts people from all over the world – the Communauté de Taizé.
Frère Roger’s idea was as simple as it was radical: a community that sets a sign of reconciliation in the midst of a divided world. Between denominations, nations, and people. Today, the Communauté counts about one hundred brothers, Catholics and Protestants from more than fifty countries. They live together, share possessions, prayer, and work. What unites them is not a dogmatic consensus but a lived practice of trust, silence, and service to others.
A Lived Ecumenism
Taizé is not a monastery in the traditional sense. The brothers do not take lifelong vows; they belong to different churches and retain their confessional identity. Nevertheless, they strive for visible unity. For Frère Roger, this unity was not a theological theory but a spiritual need: “We want to be a reflection of the undivided Church.” For “Can Christians speak of love as long as they are not united in a visible community?”
In Taizé, this community becomes concrete week after week. Thousands of young people from all parts of the world travel here. For prayer, silence, conversation, and living community. There is no instruction, no ready-made answers. Instead, questions that truly matter: “What sustains me in life?”, “What can I give?”, “What does hope mean – concretely?” The brothers accompany this search with great patience without directing it.
Spirituality in Simplicity
Three times a day, all visitors gather in the Church of Reconciliation for meditative prayer with the well-known Taizé chants. These songs are simple and powerful at the same time: a Bible verse, a melody, repeated in silence and devotion. Over the decades, they have been translated into many languages and are now sung in thousands of places worldwide—in slums, cathedrals, youth centers, and chapels.
But Taizé is more than its music. It is a space where diversity does not divide but connects. A place that does not offer a spiritual service but a shared path.
The brothers themselves live simply. They do not accept donations, do not keep inheritances, and finance themselves solely through their own work.
The Communauté Today
The brothers of Taizé are active not only in France. They also live in small fraternities in places of great poverty in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and currently also in Ukraine. Everywhere, they seek closeness to people who are marginalized or have lost everything and accompany them in daily life, without conditions, without proselytizing. The spirit of Taizé is quiet but persistent: it works through listening, trust, and gentle presence.
Over many years, Taizé has grown into a worldwide network. In many countries, there are Taizé meetings, youth prayers, and encounters carried by the desire to sow trust where mistrust grows. Amid the complexity of our time, the Communauté reminds us that spirituality does not mean withdrawal but lived responsibility.
Why We Are Connected
The La Poterie de Taizé is part of this special place. For decades, the brothers have been making ceramics. They do this quietly and carefully from the materials that the earth around Taizé provides. Working with clay is more than a source of income. It expresses the spiritual attitude of the Communauté: patience, simplicity, dedication. All of this is also found in working with their own hands.
Our collaboration with the brothers is marked by trust and a shared understanding: quality arises from mindfulness. Beauty does not need grand gestures. And work can be a prayer. We are very grateful to be able to work with this wonderful community and look forward every year to a visit to the monastery – you are also warmly invited to Taizé to experience community with the brothers.
References:
www.logo-buch.de/logo-aktiv/wissensbibliothek/christliches-lexikon/taize
www.vivat.de/magazin/christliches-leben/geistliche-autoren/taize-bedeutung/
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The production process
In our workshop, every step is carefully done by hand – from mixing the clay to the final glaze firing. The clay is produced, shaped, and dried in the monastery itself before being fired at over 1000 °C. Each glaze is also mixed, applied, and fired a second time on-site at up to 1200 °C. This creates stoneware ceramics that remain beautiful for a long time and have a noticeable depth.
Our glazes
Our glazes are made from natural minerals and are developed and produced directly in the monastery. They reflect the surroundings and the silence of Taizé.
There are ten different glazes, each with its own color palette, surface, and mood: Bleu, Matte Bleu, Silver Gray, Bresse Wood, Gousseau, Yellow, Hazelnut, Omnia, Red Kaki, and Temokku. No piece is exactly the same as another – and that is what makes them so vibrant.
Sustainability
We work exclusively with natural raw materials. Our ceramics are durable, timeless, and made to be used for many years. We also pay attention to environmentally friendly solutions in packaging and shipping. We believe: sustainability starts with the material – and ends with conscious use.
History behind La Poterie de Taizé
The pottery of Taizé is rooted in a special history: In the community of the brothers of Taizé, pottery was for decades part of a simple, mindful life and a quiet sign of connection with nature. When the pandemic brought life on site to a halt, a new idea emerged: to bring the ceramics of Taizé from Salzburg to the world. Thus, in 2021, our brand was born to connect old craftsmanship with new paths. Today, with every piece, we carry forward the values that have shaped us: sustainability, meaning, and genuine craftsmanship.
Our team
Behind every product from La Poterie de Taizé are people with a shared belief: that things of value require time, dedication, and mindfulness. Whether in the workshop in Taizé, the warehouse in Salzburg, or our store in Vienna: we work on a small scale for something big. And we do this as a small but cohesive team.
Meet the team
Taizé Community
The Communauté de Taizé is an international ecumenical brotherhood in southern Burgundy, founded in 1940 by Brother Roger as a place of peace, silence, and reconciliation. Today, brothers from various denominations live there together—united through prayer, simplicity, and service to others. Their spirituality is expressed not in words, but in lived trust—even in the quiet, artisanal work with clay.
Learn more about the Communauté