Hermit’s Cave

Many people allege that there’s no such thing as Hermit’s Cave– that Johannes Kelpius and the Hermit Monks may in fact have existed back in the 1690’s, but that what we call their «cave» is nothing more than a springhouse. I am a believer, and if you look at this map of Fairmount Park from 1871, you will note that Hermit’s Glen and Kelpius’ Spring are clearly marked (check 2″ above the label on the right that reads «Wissahickon Section from the Schuylkill Section:»
).
So local legend has it that Kelpius was a Rosicrucian and Pietist monk, in fact the first Rosicrucian Master in America. He and his followers believed that the world was going to end, so in 1694 they left Germany and came to America to establish a community where they could prepare for the rapture by separating themselves from worldly matters. They settled on Philadelphia because Penn founded it as a place of religious freedom and tolerance, and the city was still very new and the land still relatively wild. Upon arrival, they walked all the way to Germantown and soon settled in a section of the Wissahickon Valley near Hermit Lane. Until they dissolved when the world didn’t end in 1700, the Hermits of the Wissahickon maintained a separate existence from other settlers, although they were known for their willingness to lend their skills with medicine and herbs. Kelpius himself, remained in the Cave until his death in 1708– thus «Hermit’s Cave.»
Hermit’s Cave is an essential exploring experience for any kid– it fires the imagination and leads us to run away and try to live there when our hormones hit us at age 12 or 13. I’ve heard stories that there used to be a working chimney and that people often spent summers camping out there, but those days were long gone by the time I came around. For adults, it’s a tangible piece of Philadelphia’s earliest European/​Post-​Native history, and it still fires the imagination. For me, one of the neatest things about the Wissahickon Valley is that you can find pieces of our earliest history scattered throughout– from cabins in which the Revolutionary armies stayed (yes, george is supposed to have slept here), to ornate concrete and marble horse fountains built into streams coursing down the side of the mountains (that still work), to a Rosicrucian Master’s cave (which is still habitable). Traditional museums are great, but Hermit’s Cave and the Wissahickon Valley are living ones!