Abstract
Saint Gunther (ca. 970-1045) came from an important noble family from Thuringia. In 1005 he became a monk.
He first led the provostry in Thuringian Göllingen, after which he left for the hermitage in the Bavarian Forest where he later founded the provostry in Rinchnach. There he established a settlement and built paths.
Aside from this he served as a diplomat in the service of the Holy Roman Emperors. He played an important diplomatic role during the military expedition of Henry III to Bohemia in the summer of 1040.
Gunther died with a reputation of holiness in Dobrá Voda in the Bohemian Forest on the 9th of October 1045, and was buried in the Břevnov Abbey near Prague. In the middle of the 13th century, the Abbey undertook an attempt to canonise Gunther at the papal court, but without success.
Despite this, Gunther's cult took root in Bohemia and, although he was German, he became a member of the group of Czech national patron saints.