Stories to marvel

From a guest room to a 4-star hotel

Six decades of holidays in Zillertal

For Konrad Schnabel, from Germany, the Dornauhof in Finkenberg has become his second home. The journalist looks back wistfully on six decades of holidays in Zillertal.

Iwas still in nappies when my parents enquired at a bed and breakfast in Finkenberg in 1960 for a few nights’ accommodation. Fortunately, it was already fully booked. They were advised to try the old farmhouse nearby, where a few guest rooms had just been refurbished. There was still one small obstacle between their frustration and joy though: the 48-metre-deep gorge, which could only be crossed over a narrow, legendary bridge built in 1876. Fearless, we braved our way over the now listed spruce-wood Teufelsbrücke (Devil’s Bridge), forging ahead to be the first guests of Martha and Sepp, who lived in the property together with their children, parents, farmhands and beloved cattle.

Even though pizza and fries, burgers and sushi only ended up on local menus many years after their triumph in big cities, and many a fashion sin from past eras survives to this day: the people of Finkenberg have not been provincial for a long time. They are attractive anyway and have always been adaptable. Herbal witches became alternative practitioners, cowherds became ski instructors and mountain guides. The extent of their affinity for technology is not only evident in their cars: in Finkenberg and Ginzling there is even a fibre optic connection in the most isolated hut! Despite all the global coolness, a lot of zeitgeist blew across the valley unnoticed.

The dawn of the modern age

Anderl Kröll, the only son and therefore the heir to the farm among the five siblings, had long since become a good friend of mine. And while I wasted the eighties with the imponderables of growing up, a generational change was in the offing at the Krölls. The father and son created a grand caférestaurant together directly opposite the Teufelsbrücke. Then a new era began. Anderl and his wife Margit took over his parents’ entire business, now in its third generation. Everything old was torn down and built in a shiny new look. The only remains from the former farm were the barn and a former tool shed, which was redesigned into a rustic family house.

Sudden celebrity status

The nineties promised to be a decade of freedom, with the hope that all borders would disappear. The future was assured again. The effects of the fall of the Berlin Wall could also be felt here: by staff and customers. The Zillertal Schürzenjäger band gave their village the biggest boost in popularity. Their hit “Sierra Madre” and the open-air spectacle attracted up to 100,000 fans, but really rocked the limits of what the valley could take. Incidentally, Schürzenjäger open-air concerts are still held today – in the meantime, the stage crew is made up of the original cast’s descendants. The Piefke saga was another media event. The love-hate relationship between arrogant Germans and proud Tyroleans, the ambivalence between selling out and dignity in Zillertal has never been satirised more exaggeratedly than in this anti-homeland film with a famous cast.

“Despite all the global coolness,
a lot of zeitgeist blew across
the valley unnoticed.
Is that a disadvantage?”

Wi-fi at the mountain hut

Even though pizza and fries, burgers and sushi only ended up on local menus many years after their triumph in big cities, and many a fashion sin from past eras survives to this day: the people of Finkenberg have not been provincial for a long time. They are attractive anyway and have always been adaptable. Herbal witches became alternative practitioners, cowherds became ski instructors and mountain guides. The extent of their affinity for technology is not only evident in their cars: in Finkenberg and Ginzling there is even a fibre optic connection in the most isolated hut! Despite all the global coolness, a lot of zeitgeist blew across the valley unnoticed.

The family saga continues

In the new millennium, the EU’s expansion eastwards brought in new crowds of guests. Hobby architect Anderl kept expanding and improving his fabulous 4-star hotel with all imaginable amenities (including apartment-sized bathrooms, pine wood suites...), which also include a phenomenal breakfast buffet and a sophisticated 5-course dinner. With prices that still warm the heart! The workhorse also got involved in local politics. He has been mayor of the municipality since 2016! With three children on the go and grandchildren already in the family, there is every reason to believe that this family saga will soon be successfully continued in the fourth and fifth generations.

Image: The Schnabel family's private archive, Flo Smith and text: Konrad Schnabel
Zillertal Year-round magazine 2024

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