Austrian town finds its hermit after international search

VIENNA — A months-long international search by an Austrian town to find a new hermit has ended — and Stan’s the man.

Mayor Erich Rohrmoser of Saalfelden, near Salzburg, says officials chose Belgian Stan Vanuytrecht, a former artillery officer, surveyor and a Roman Catholic deacon, because the bearded 58-year-old pipe smoker “emanates calm and comes across as steady.”

Vanuytrecht is pleased — and surprised. More than 50 people applied, and state broadcaster ORF quotes him as saying “I thought I have no chance.”

Built into a cliff, the more than 350-year-old hermitage near the town has no heat, no running water and is habitable only between April and November.