History

History of the Church of St. John of Nepomuk

Why was the monument built? Many people can ask why Santini designed the church on the Green Hill. That is an easy answer but we should go back to the history of the monument.

Václav Vejmluva was an abbot of the monastery in Žďár nad Sázavou since 1705. It was discovered in the tomb of John of Nepomuk in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. Abbot Vejmluva decided to build an extraordinary church near the monastery. The first question was who would be the architect? His decision was clear - Jan Blažej Santini Aichel was a well - known baroque architect, so Václav Vejmluva chose him to make a project of the monument. In 1719 Santini started to work on the project. Václav Vejmluva introduced him his visions about the form of the church on the Green Hill although he did not accept traditions of religious buildings. However he accepted the structure of a pilgrimage destination. Santini tried to project the church as a star, every symbol of the church he designed in detail.

In summer 1719 Santini started his work on the monument. It was extraordinary in that time. The project could not stop him to realize it, such as measuring area, digging and building bottom walls of the future church. It was difficult to ensure available material and people who were working on the project. The first celebration of the church was when a foundation stone was placed in 1720. The building was constructed in the following year and in 1722 it was consecrated. The cloister was built in 1740 but during next years it was quite changed. After basic works it was neccesary to furnish the church. Santini designed the main altar which is made in details especially with a statue of John of Nepomuk. In the project of the church there were not mentioned any cemetery inside the area of the place where the church was. Santini unfortunatelly died before the completion of the church, so other artists had to complete the building.

The church on the Green Hill became the most visited pilgrimage place and lots of baroque events were organised there. Lots of people from further places visited this spectatular monument not only because of religious events even though because of the impressive beauty of the church.. At the beginnings of its existence there was a big fame of this place. However in 1784 the monastery and the church caught fire. In this time the abbot of monastery in Žďár nad Sázavou was Otto Steinbach from Kranichštejn and he did not want to repair damages after the accident. The monument fell into serious disrepair, the roof was broken and it was neccesary to make decisions to rescue the running of the church. People decided to give some money for repairs. It was not enough, the monastery was cancelled and in the church there were only masses to honour St. John of Nepomuk.

A few years later about in the year 1791 citizens of Žďár nad Sázavou and Nové Město na Moravě demanded repairs of the church. So the bishop Lachenbacher accepted demands and allowed only funerals in the church and he banned masses there. People did not agree with his decision and they wanted to change something. The Bishop was angry and he warned people if they did not agree he would demolish the church. Finally the roof was repaired and lots of repairs were made there. The church needed many repairs and it cost lots of money. People who liked the church invested to this repairs and it really helped to hold this pilgrimage place in nowadays form.

Vratislav from Mitronic became a new owner of the church in 1826. The church was a private property in this age and all decisions about the church were private. Unfortunatelly the owner was responsible not only for the parish church but also for the church on the Green Hill. Fortunatelly the owner fell being responsible for the church. Matěj Sychra was interested in the church on the Green Hill and could influence local authorities to save it. He helped to repair the church and in 1729 the church was consecrated again by him. Next year Sychra died.

The weather in the Highlands is sometimes very cold and it has influenced the building very much. Storms ruined the roof , frost destroyed roof frames, so other repairs were neccesary. In this age Josef from Ditrichštejn and countess Clam-Gallasov gave some money to repair it again. The Church on the Green Hill needed more and more repairs and the state wanted to decide about the future owner of the church.

In 1914 the First World War started and the church started to be less important in comparison with the defence of nation. After the war only windows.were changed. The church started to fall into ruin and next disaster appeared - the Second World War.

In 1953 the state became the new owner of the church and it has been since that time.The government has kept the church in a good state and it has repaired everything which has been neccesary. ( Especially in 70s and 80s of 20 century).

The memory became famous not only in former Czechoslovakia but also abroad and lots of people started to visit it again. In 1994 the church of St. John of Nepomuk was written to the list of UNESCO World Heritage.

Nowadays many people from all around the world know this extraordinary monument.Local people are really proud of this monument and they hope that Santini´s work would be never forgotten.

Radka Filipi

Jan Blažej Santini Aichel (3. 2. 1677 – 7. 12. 1723)

Jan Blažej Santini Aichel was one of the most famous architects and painters in his period. He was born on 3th February 1677 in Prague as the oldest son of a stone artist. His family supposed that young Santini will continue in the same craft as his father, but he was more interested in art, so his dad helped him to realise his dreams to be an architect. We don't correctly know who was Santini's teacher of art, but it may be Jean Baptista Mathey and Jean Schröder. He travelled around Italy and Austria where he had an oppurtunity to take some experiences, especially of a radical architect Francesco Boromini. 

In 1700 Santini kept his own building company and he could start project monuments. He got unfinished projects by J. B. Matheye after his death and he finished them. He met Wolfgang Lochner who was the first important customer for him a few years later. After this meeting he received lots of contacts to other customers especially abbots of Cistercian monasteries who fancied Aichel's work. Abbots were the most interested people of Santini's work. He worked for abbot Jindřich Snopek from Sedleč, abbot Evžen Tyll for whom Santini built Plasy, for abbot Václav Vejmluva for whom he projected the church on the Green Hill in Žďár nad Sázavou.

He got married Veronika Alžběta, a daughter of Schröder in 1707, in the year when his teacher of art Schröder already died. They had 4 children, but 3 of them (all boys) died as children and only his daughter Anna Veronika survived. In 1720 his wife Veronika died too, so his personal life was not as easy as we could think. These sad events did not break his personality and he got married again and approached to an aristocratic family one year later and started really a new life.

Information about Santini are not clear enough.

Perhaps about 60 monuments were designed and built by him and ten of them are well – known master pieces. I want to mention some of his projects - it is the reconstruction of the gothic cathedral in Sedlec, the project of a church in Křtiny which was not realised exactly according to his plans, project of castle Charles Crown in Chlumec nad Cidlinou or the most famous project of the church on the Green Hill.

Santini was humble during his life so we cannot be suprised that his tomb is not in a famous cemetery, but it is in a small church of St. Jan in Prague. This succesful architect will never be forgettable because his monuments will show us his work for long times and especially his baroque -gothic style is unbelievely monumetal for us nowadays.

Radka Filipi

Václav Vejmluva

Václav Vejmluva was born in 1670. When he was 18 he left his family, who owned a brewery in Brno and came to Žďár. However the same year the church in Žďár burnt and it was not possible to live there, so Václav went to Western Bohemia. After moving here he started to study in Prague and in 1695 he became a priest.

When he came back to Žďár after studying in Prague, the church was renovated by a new abbot Edmund Wagner. At the beginning Vejmluva worked there as an economist and then helped to abbot.

In 1705 the abbot Wagner died, Vejmluva became a new abbot , he was confirmed by the Emperor.

The following years of Vejmluva’s life were dedicated to the unceasing care of the economic and spiritual development of the monastery.

After a few years Vaclav met a young architect Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel. In this time there were formed magnificent buildings, some of the buldings have been preserved up to now. The pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk on the Green Hill is rightly considered the most remarkable building designed by Santini.

In 1737 the monastery set on fire and the fire burnt a large part of the library. The fire had a huge tragic impact on sixty-seven-year-old abbot Vejmluva. The old man didn’t manage to cope with the horrible accident and three days after the fire he died.

Eva Fousová