Wanted: Volunteer hermit needed to live on cliffside cloister in Austria

For those who are looking to get away from it all and maybe practise some a capella Sound of Music numbers, there’s a hermitage near Salzburg hiring, well, a hermit.

The Austrian town of Saalfelden is home to the cliffside cloister, once a cave before it was converted into a chapel, where the volunteer will live a rent-free “poor and simple” life.

It’s not a traditional, don’t-speak-to-anyone-for-six-months kind of gig, though. The hermitage gets quite a bit of foot traffic in the form of tourists, pilgrims and locals looking to check out the view, pray and have a bit of a chat, seeking solace in conversation with the occupant.

Previous hermits included a pastor and psychotherapist from Vienna, who managed one stint, and a Benedictine monk who served for a full decade.

Dechant Alois Moser told local broadcasters ORF that they’re after “a self-sufficient person who is at peace with their self, and willing to talk to people, but not to impose”. 

The position is advertised through the town’s website, which notes that “a classic job description does not exist for a hermit. Training and professional experience are also secondary”.

The 350-year-old haven has no heating, electricity or internet, and can only be lived in during the warmer months between April and November.

Applications are accepted via snail mail, and volunteers will need to have a “Christian outlook”. The lucky candidate will be chosen by Alois Moser and the town’s mayor, Erich Rohrmoser, and applications close on March 15, 2017.