Berlin - The Segen (Benediction) cloister lies amid the bustle of Berlin like an oasis in the desert. Schoenhauser Allee, a four-lane street, is right outside, but traffic noise stops at the cloister's doors. Behind its thick walls, quiet reigns.

"This is a place for people to recharge their batteries," remarked Georg Schubert, director of the Swiss religious fraternity Don Camillo. The group purchased the run-down Segenskirche (Benediction Church), situated in the eastern Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg, in 2007 and established the city's first and only Protestant cloister there last August.

Downshifters will now be able to train themselves to achieve inner peace in Germany's capital and largest city.

Schubert, 53, moved from placid Switzerland with his own family and two other families to take on the challenge in Berlin.

"A fascinating city," he said. The pastor of the Segenskirche, Gisbert Mangliers, had earlier won over Don Camillo immediately with his idea for an urban cloister in Berlin during a visit to Switzerland. The group purchased the house of worship from the Protestant Church for the symbolic price of 1 euro.

Protestant cloisters, which have a daily regimen centred on work and prayer like their Catholic counterparts, are operated by religious fraternities such as Don Camillo.

Don Camillo has run an estate near the Swiss city of Neuchatel since 1988, organises seminars and offers "temporary cohabitation." It is named after the main protagonist - a wily priest constantly at odds with the Communist mayor of a small Italian village - in novels by the Italian writer Giovanni Guareschi. Beginning in 1952, some of Guareschi's books were adapted for movies with the French actor known as Fernandel in the role of Don Camillo.

"We're working on creating a place in the centre of Berlin where people can try living a Christian life," Schubert said. In addition to regular prayer meetings on weekdays, there are introductory courses in meditation. Schubert noted that the Segenskirche was also a place for people who had questions, were faced with decisions, or sought a few hours of quiet.

As soon as guest rooms in the cloister are finished, people will be able to live for limited periods with the religious fraternity, Schubert said. The cost of a stay will be negotiable. Schubert said free stays were not possible because renovating the church was eating up a fortune: more than 3 million euros (4.4 million dollars) to date, after an original estimate of 2.5 million euros.

He conceded that the difficulties sometimes seemed almost unbearable. Red tape, changing jurisdictions, and waiting periods are time-consuming and exasperating, he said.

"When yet another foundation rejects an application for financial aid, it's very depressing," Schubert remarked. He said a project like the urban cloister could hardly be managed alone, but that the community always supported him when the going got tough.

The most important task now, Schubert said, was collecting donations to contine renovation work until winter. The Segenskirche celebrates its 100th anniversary in December.

Internet: www. stadtklostersegen. de (dpa)