1665
The Prioress of the Dominican convent in Mahrenberg on the Drava (Slovenia), Maria Johanna Linzer, wished to establish a Dominican convent at the Loreto Chapel in St. Andrä. The monastery in Mahrenberg also belonged to the Diocese of Lavant. The construction of the monastery was then started with significant financial difficulties and was completed in 1665. In the same year, the monastery could be occupied and operated under the Prince-Bishop of Lavant, Sebastian Count von Pötting from Mahrenberg.
The sisters operated a girls' boarding school and a retirement home for women. Later, they also served in the Loreto Church.
The Dominican convent was dissolved on March 17, 1782, by Emperor Franz Joseph II through a court decree. The protest of the Prince-Bishop of Lavant, Vinzenz Josef Graf von Schrattenbach, to the Emperor was unsuccessful. After 117 years of beneficial activity for the city, the Dominican sisters had to leave St. Andrä. They found asylum, refuge, and accommodation with the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth in Klagenfurt. The Religious Fund took possession of the convent building.
1782
1785
Around 1785, a teacher named Novak held classes in the former "ärarischen Frauenkloster" (state-owned women's convent). "Ärarisch" is Latin and means belonging to the state treasury. "Ärarisches Frauenkloster" translates to the nationalized women's convent. A citizen of St. Andrä purchased the building and operated a brewery with beer service in the former convent. One building was even converted into a horse stable. The owner used the horses to provide the necessary draft services for wagons at that time.
In 1826, the roof of the building burned down, and the owner was unable to restore it. Consequently, the building fell into disrepair and became a ruin. The Elisabethinenverein, a social charitable association in St. Andrä, maintained and operated an impoverished work school here. Dr. Anna Vetter, the widow of a doctor, served as the head of this association or school in the years before 1880. She advocated for the establishment of a women's order in St. Andrä to take over the school. The founder of the congregation "Daughters of Divine Love" (1868), Mother Franziska Lechner, came from the motherhouse in Vienna to St. Andrä to inspect the house offered by the Elisabethinenverein. It did not meet her expectations. However, she saw the still powerful walls of the former Dominican convent and decided to renovate this convent building. A purchase agreement was immediately concluded with the then-owner, Mr. Franz Sotlat (6600 guilders). The construction work was entrusted to the builder Urbani from St. Paul and the master mason Pitaco from St. Andrä. The building was raised by one floor, giving rise to the new convent Maria Loretto of the "Daughters of Divine Love," which the sisters moved into in October 1880.
1826 - 1880
1888
In 1888, the convent was able to acquire the adjacent "Fuchshube." The proceeds from this exemplary managed agriculture serve to sustain the convent's self-sufficiency.
Die Klosterschule Maria Loretto
In 1880, the Sisters of the Congregation "Daughters of Divine Love" took up residence in the convent Maria Loretto in St. Andrä, marking the beginning of a new era. In October 1880, a kindergarten and a vocational school for girls were already opened. Just one month later, in November, the private girls' elementary school with an attached girls' boarding school commenced its operation. Three years later, in 1883, the girls' elementary school obtained public recognition. Around the turn of the century, the citizens of the city gladly sent their children to this now highly esteemed convent school. Pupils from the entire Lavant Valley were admitted to the boarding school, as well as from various locations in Carinthia. Affluent citizens, senior government officials from the monarchy (Trieste, Gorizia, and other cities) sent their daughters for education to the Maria Loretto Convent School. At times, 60 girls were accommodated in the boarding school. Even during this period, the students at the private elementary school Maria Loretto were taught subjects of the secondary school, but they had to undergo a final examination at a state secondary school in Klagenfurt. In 1920, the Sisters finally obtained permission to run a secondary school. In 1926, the convent's secondary school obtained public recognition. In 1927, the secondary school became a junior high school. With the school year 1927/28, a single-track junior high school was opened. After the "Anschluss" of Austria to the German Reich in 1938, the School Sisters of the convent were forbidden to run a school, and public recognition was revoked. The Sisters were allowed to stay in the convent, and their property was not expropriated, unlike that of the Jesuits. The school premises were taken over by a state-run junior high school through a lease agreement between the convent and the municipality.
In November 1945, after the end of World War II, the Sisters were able to resume school operations. Public recognition was regained in August 1946. After the war, the number of students increased significantly, and boys were also admitted. The school space became insufficient, leading to the decision to construct an annex. In 1963, a two-story annex to the convent was completed, providing space for the kindergarten, school, and boarding school. In 1966, the Sisters also opened a home economics school, where the newly introduced 9th grade (Polytechnic Course) could be completed. Three years later, in 1969, the Sisters obtained public recognition for this new type of school as well. Since September 1979, in addition to the one-year home economics course originating from the vocational school, a two-year course for disabled girls has been offered. The Carinthian State Government assigns girls to this school.
The kindergarten became too small again, prompting the decision to construct a new building. The inauguration of the modernly equipped kindergarten took place in September 1979. Since its founding in 1880, several thousand young people have attended Maria Loretto Convent School. The school's good reputation is based on the solid impartation of essential life knowledge, the esteemed household education of girls, as well as their ethical, humanitarian, and Christian upbringing. The annual student reunions bear witness to the loyalty and grateful connection of former students to Maria Loretto Convent.
Since the academic year 2021/2022, the new school "LAVANTINUM" with an innovative educational concept for students aged 6 to 15 is located there.
