The article examines the prerequisites and conditions of late medieval reform movements in the convents of the Thuringian Augustinian canons from the perspective of organizational sociology. The 15th century was marked by a veritable reform mania to which all institutions were subjected. It was believed, that a return to an old, “better” way of life would increase the effectiveness of the monastic life and at the same time ward off divine punishments. That is why the reform of monasteries was vehemently promoted by the sovereigns and demanded by the population. With the Reformation, however, the monasteries lost their raison d’etre as well as their support from the princes, so that the strategies that were so effective only a few decades earlier could no longer stop the monasteries’ demise.