History of the Abbacy
In 1213 King Premysl Otakar I assigned Broumov, a rocky headland in North East Bohemia, to the Benedictine Order of Brevnov near Prague. A Benedictine priory was established in Broumov under the jurisdiction of the Benedictine Abbacy in Brevnov. A monastery was built on the site of the former citadel together with a monastery church dedicated to St.Adalbert (St. Vojtech). During the Hussites Wars the Benedictine monastery in Brevnov was burned down and the abbot together with other members of the Order took refuge in the monastery in Broumov. This move increased the significance of the town of Broumov. The Hussites besieged Broumov but they failed to take over the town.
The migration of the monks from Brevnov to Broumov brought about the cultural and economic growth of the town and of the surrounding countryside.
During the 16^th century the abuses by the Roman Catholic Church came under attack by a movement known in history as The Reformation. During this period there was a decline in the moral behavior of the Benedictine monks. Abbot Martin II, nicknamed "The Trough" was known for his mockery and he was ousted from his role as abbot. Wolfgang Selender, a vehement man from Prosovic succeeded him. While he was abbot Selender came into dispute with the Protestants in Broumov and closed their church. The angry Protestants threatened his life and he had to escape from Broumov to Moravia. He died in 1619.
The Bohemian phase of The Thirty Years' War ended with a victory for the Catholics and better days were ahead for the Benedictines. The abbacy under the abbots Tomas Sartoria (1663-1700) and Otomar Daniel Zinke (1700-1738) reached a very good economic status and a magnificent building activity took place. The Gothic church of St.Adalbert was rebuilt in Baroque style by the Italian master builder Martin Allia. Other churches and buildings were reconstructed and built after the designs of K.I Dietzenhofer and C. Lurago.
A very important chapter in the history of the Benedictines is their role in education. Even before the Hussites Wars the Benedictine monastery school (later a grammar school) was well known. The school was attended by many famous people- Arnost- the first Archbishop of Prague, Bohuslav Balbin - a historian, Alois Jirisak - a writer, Alois Rasin the first Czechoslovak minister of finance and many other distinguished people. In 1939 the Nazis closed down the monastery grammar school. During this time the Brevnov Abbacy and the Broumov Abbacy became independent of one another because of political reasons. The Czech monks relocated in Brevnov whilst the German monks stayed in Broumov (Braunau in Sudentenland). After the war in 1946 the German monks together with their abbot Dominic Prokop were expelled from the monastery of Braunau (Broumov) and settled in a former Augustine monastery in Rohr, Germany (the Regensburg diocese).
In 1948 some Czech- American Benedictines of St.Prokop abbacy in Lisle, Illinois came to live for some time in the monastery in Broumov with their Prior P.John Cherf. After 1950 the monastery was used as a "concentration camp" for priests and monks of different orders. The communist regime turned monasteries into prisons to be used for their own purposes. Monasteries were plundered and pillaged and clergymen were persecuted and punished for preaching their religion. Priests, monks and nuns lived in very poor conditions and they were forced to work in industries and agricultural farms.
By 1968 the situation of the clergy improved and nuns started to do missionary and educational work in communities. The sisters of the Order Of St. Dominic came to Broumov and looked after orphans from all the parishes in Bohemia and Moravia.
At present the monastery building is vacant. It is being considered as a convent for Benedictine nuns. This move will definitely reinstate the monastic life that was once in this remarkable place and so preserve this unique religious monument. This monastery is undisputable exceptional.