Václav Vejmluva was born on September 19, 1670, into the family of Jan Vejmluva, a brewer in the brewery of the Cistercian monastery in Brno. At the age of 18, on January 1, 1689, he entered the novitiate at the Cistercian monastery of Žďár nad Sázavou.
However, in the same year, Václav, along with other monks, had to temporarily leave the monastery due to a disaster that struck the convent on October 19. On that day, the monastery burned down, the badly damaged convent buildings were uninhabitable, and the condition of the church did not allow for religious services. The monks therefore had to take refuge in other Cistercian monasteries for a while, at least until the buildings were partially repaired.
The novice Václav Vejmluva was sent to the Cistercian monastery of Plasy in West Bohemia. Here, on March 28, 1690, he took the perpetual vows to the hands of the local abbot Ondřej Trojer. This was followed by studies in the Bernardinum college of the archbishop's seminary in Prague and on January 16, 1695, he was ordained a priest.
In 1691, Edmund Wagner became abbot of the monastery of Žďár nad Sázavou with the task to continue and eventually complete the repairs that had begun immediately after the fire. Under the leadership of this very capable man, the monastery slowly rose from the ruins. After completing his studies, Vejmluva returned to Žďár nad Sázavou and held the office of the supervisor of monastery's finances and later became the abbot's secretary. This indicates that Vejmluva was undoubtedly a capable man, which was confirmed later, when he became the abbot himself.
In March 1705, Abbot Wagner left the world. During his time in Žďár, he managed to not only repair the monastery after the tragic fire, but also free it from almost all debts. At the end of May, the monastery held an election for a new abbot. Not only the members of the local community, but also the abbot of the monastery in Osek Benedikt Littwerig, the abbot of Sedlec Jindřich Snopek and the representatives of the Moravian Provincial Assembly counts Karel Antonín Braida and Cyril Josef Košínský, were summoned to Žďár as supervisors. Vejmluva succeeded in elections, being recommended as a successor by the late abbot Wagner. The election was later confirmed by the emperor. Vejmluva took the abbot's vow on June 24 and was solemnly consecrated by the consecrating bishop of Olomouc on September 15. The following years of Vejmluva's life were marked by unceasing care for the economic and spiritual prosperity of the monastery. However, he did not neglect the concerns of the people living on the monastery estates.
The meeting of the abbot Vejmluva with the young architect Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel sometime during 1706 was of extraordinary importance. The understanding in the field of architecture and art between these two personalities brought up many fruits in the form of monastery buildings, some of which have survived to this day.
It seems that Santini's first tasks in Žďár were the interior modifications of the abbey church and of the convent. In the abbey church, he enriched the relatively austere interior. Santini approached the task with extraordinary sensitivity and at the same time very courageously. In 1708, new stuccos were created in the church and a bridge organ gallery was inserted above the crossing of the nave with the transept arms. Santini's hand can be traced in the modifications of the convent, the well chapel, the south wing of the monastery and the spiral staircase in the west wing.
In 1709, the so-called Lower Cemetery was built northwest of the monastery. Later, an old people's home and an inn were built in the monastery's forecourt according to Santini's design. In 1720, the farmyard complex called "Lyra" was built near the monastery. Before his death in 1722, Santini probably proposed a project of the construction of an academy for the upbringing and education of young men from noble families to Abbot Vejmluva. The most remarkable work that Santini designed in Žďár nad Sázavou is undoubtedly the complex of the pilgrimage church of St John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora. Santini put all his skills into the project, and the church is considered a unique masterpiece. However, Abbot Vejmluva enjoyed the completion of the works alone, without Santini, who died in December 1723.
It is documented that under Abbot Vejmluva the number of monks in Žďár nad Sázavou reached more than fifty, which is probably the highest number in the history of the monastery. The celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the monastery's foundation (meaning the arrival of the monks to a nearby foundation of Nížkov) on August 28 – September 4, 1735, for which Vejmluva and his community were diligently preparing, took place in a truly spectacular way.
The demanding construction activities significantly depleted monastery's funds, and less than two years after the celebrations, the monastery experienced another disaster. On May 9, the monastery burned down. The fire consumed a large part of the library and the rich furnishings and decorations of the convent. The interior of the church was only saved from the fire thanks to the great efforts of the monks. However, the fire was much more tragic for the sixty-seven-year-old abbot Vejmluva. The old man was no longer able to cope with the terrible event. Perhaps as he had experienced the devastating fire of the monastery in 1689 a novice and he knew very well what effort would be needed to restore the buildings and that nothing would replace many of the treasures consumed by the fire. On the third day after the devastating fire, he suffered a stroke. He remained alive and his condition even improved, but less than a year after the event, on March 17, 1738, death finally freed him from a difficult fate, which he had endured with great patience, devotion, and love.
