Johannes Hartl

Johannes Hartl was born into a Catholic family, though living his youth in excess - chasing girls and experimenting with drugs - drove him away from God for a while. “I never really had a bad impression of the Church, only that is was boring.” He was fourteen when his parents took him to a religious conference. “At that time, I was a rebellious hippy, and I thought this whole thing was stupid.” He was looking at participants with a smirk on his face: “I did not pray; I was just standing there, and I felt empty inside. When the prayer ended, I went back to my seat, and I could feel that something had changed. (...) I found God, even though I had never tried.” In 2005, he founded the House of Prayer in Augsburg, which is open 365 days of year, 24/7 to all those who would like to pray. Hartl remarked: “Petrol stations, McDonald’s restaurants and fire departments are all open 24-hours a day, while we Christians remain the only community to open our doors to the public only one hour a week.” This is what this rebellious hippy ended up changing…