History and further information

A short history

The baroque Ivanite hermitage in Teplice nad Metují is a U-shaped range of buildings closed off by a wall with a garden, consisting of the church of Our Lady of Help and the two partly log-built wings of the hermitage itself. When it was built, everything apart from the open hearth kitchen and the chimneys was of log construction. It is one of the last surviving remnants of the Congregation of St Ivan, founded for hermits in Bohemia in 1732.

This unusually large hermitage was built in 1753 by the nobleman Dr Jan Maxmilián of Peytersberg, a Prague physician and doctor of philosophy who at the age of 65 decided to take up the hermit’s life. He gave over his property to the running of the hermitage, where he lived together with two hermits until his death in 1763. The two hermits went on living here until 1782, when Emperor Joseph II dissolved the congregation of hermits. Both then saw out their days here as sacristans.

After that the hermitage was slightly altered and continued in use as a dwelling for the sacristan, and from time to time for the chaplain who celebrated the pilgrimage masses — without major changes until 1945. The layout remained as it was, the log-built internal walls were replaced with masonry, and in the twentieth century the shingle roof gave way to roofing felt and sheet metal. After 1945 it was no longer lived in and was looked after by nuns working in the local retirement home. After 1989 only occasional repairs were made, and by 2010 it seemed the building would be consumed by dry rot. Since then our association has been working to rescue and repair it.

Some sources

The documents below are in Czech or German; we list them so the record is complete.

• Vavřinec Wintera: A modern hermitage by the Teplice rocks — the first account from which we learned about the hermits. (in Czech)
• An article for the magazine Čech from 1905 by the same author: part 1, part 2. (in Czech)
• Josef Karpf: Wekelsdorf — the chapter on the church of Our Lady of Help. (in German)
• Bohumil Sýkora: Hermits in Teplice nad Metují — an article for the local paper Teplické ozvěny. (in Czech)
• Antonín Cechner: Inventory of monuments in the Broumov district — technical information about the church. (in Czech)

Thanks to a building-historical survey and further research we have had to correct some of the information in these articles. We will publish the corrections as we go.

Older articles

• Announcement of tours, Teplické ozvěny, December 2009 — here
• Announcement of the rescue, Teplické ozvěny, June 2011 — here
• Restoration report no. 2, Teplické ozvěny, May 2012 — here
• Restoration report, Teplické ozvěny, September 2023 — here

Assessments and curiosities

• Statement of the heritage institute from 2010 — PDF
• Description of the organ