The Last Hermit of the Saint-Verena Einsiedelei in Solothurn

12 March 2025

The first hermits lived in Egypt and Syria in the second and third centuries. The first Christian communities had emerged in this region in the first century. These areas were prosperous Roman provinces at the time.

Hermits were recluses dedicated to the Christian faith in isolation and poverty. They are considered the first monks, and the first monastic orders also originated in Egypt and Syria. Some hermits gained cult status, and their sites became pilgrimage destinations. One of the most famous is Simeon the Stylite.

He did not live in a cave or a self-built hut but on a pillar, not in the wilderness, along the road leading to Damascus. He had many followers, the Pillar Saints, and even a tomb monument and pilgrimage site.

Daniël the Stylite (fifth century), unknown Byzantine artist, 11th century. Picture: Wikipedia

Switzerland also has a history with hermits. Finding suitable shelter was not too difficult due to the (inhospitable) mountains, forests, rock formations, and many caves.

The founders of the first monasteries in Switzerland were also hermits. Still, due to the emergence of the first European monastic order, the Benedictines, in the 6th century, they mainly aimed at spreading the Christian faith. Their place of settlement and isolation was called Einsiedelei. The abbeys of St. Gall and, for example, Einsiedeln started this way.

Due to the rapid growth of the population and the expansion of villages and towns over the past two centuries, some of the residences of less prominent hermits are now located within or just outside the built-up area.

The Eremitenhäuschen

An example is the Einsiedelei St. Verena in the Verena Gorge near the city of Solothurn. According to legend, Verena was the fiancée of Viktor, a Christian soldier in the Theban Legion in the 3rd century AD.

The troops came from the Roman province of Egypt and stayed in Agaunum (the present-day Saint-Maurice, canton of Valais). They refused to recognise the Roman emperor Maximian (250-310) as a god and the Roman gods. The entire legion, including the commander Mauritius and Viktor, was killed.

Verena fled to Salodurum (Solothurn) and found shelter in the caves of the current Einsiedelei. She later moved on to Bad Zurzach, where the final resting place and church of Saint Verena is located.

The Martinskapelle

The Einsiedelei near Solothurn also became a pilgrimage destination. The Martinskapelle dates back to the 12th century, and St. Verena is said to have lived in the cave located behind the chapel. The Verenakapelle, located opposite, is situated in a cave and dates back to the 13th or 14th century.

The Verenakapelle

In addition to this chapel, there are two more hermit places, the Magdalenagrot and the Ölberggrot. However, this Einsiedelei still has a hermit who finds shelter in the so-called Eremitenhäuschen. He is considerably more comfortable than his predecessors. The municipality of Solothurn takes care of their livelihood.

The Magdalenagrotte and the Ölberggrotte

Not entirely selflessly, because the Verena Gorge is a well-known tourist attraction, partly thanks to the French refugee Baron Louis Auguste de Breteuil (1730-1807), who initiated and financed the road through the Verena Gorge in 1791. Solothurn was then the seat of the French embassy in the Confederation. Romanticism and the rise of tourism in the 19th century did the rest.

(Source and further information: Gesellschaft der Einsiedelei St. Verena; Gemeinde Solothurn)