Wanted: one hermit to live at 1 400m

THERE are no neighbours and the views are stunning, and if you can live without heating, running water, electricity and internet, then why not apply for a job as a hermit?

Such is the position that Saalfelden, near Salzburg in Austria, is seeking to fill, inhabiting alone one of central Europe’s last hermitages, built into a cliff above the town.

Parish priest Alois Moser said: “Since its creation 350 years ago, the Saalfelden hermitage has been inhabited continually.

“But we don’t have a successor to the last hermit.”

The successful candidate should have a “connection to Christian belief” and be “at peace with themselves” at 1 400m above sea level.

Don’t expect complete solitude, however.

The hermitage has a steady stream of visitors coming to “enjoy the view, to pray and to talk,” cautions the advert on Saalfelden’s website.

“The applicants need to know that the Saalfelden hermit does not lead a lonely life.

“Many people come and want to confide in someone. He has to be there for them,” Moser said.

The previous hermit, former priest and psychotherapist Thomas Fieglmueller, returned to Vienna after just one season – the hermitage is only open from April to November – to write.

“Life in the hermit’s cell is spartan, but the nature is very beautiful. I met lots of nice people and had good conversations.

“But there was also criticism from apparently arch-conservative Catholics because I didn’t have a cowl or a beard . . . maybe I was the wrong person.”

The job is unpaid.