A great cine­matic expe­rience in the High Tauern moun­tains: Hotel Hin­ter­egger

It was on these slopes that the for­ebears of host Katharina Hra­decky kept a mountain pasture until the 16th century. The hotel as it is today, once the ”Mair’sche inn and tavern“ was purchased by her great grand­mother in 1903, tog­ether with the farm that belongs to it. In those days, almost 80 years before the national park was created, a lot of things were dif­ferent here. But a lot has stayed the same too. The pro­perty – even today, and, inci­den­tally, in the fourth gene­ration – is managed by a woman. The farm belonging to the pro­perty remains as always a vital part of the hotel concept here, and an expression of the com­mitment of the host family. And the high mountain land­scapes have – despite all the deve­lo­pment and tourism – lost nothing of their fasci­nation.

“The moun­tains are mute masters and make silent stu­dents“ – Goethe‘s famous quote from his late work ”Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre/Wilhelm Meister’s Jour­neyman Years“ makes par­ti­cular sense here. Even many expe­ri­enced moun­tai­neers see the Alps in a new light in the High Tauern and don’t take long to add their own resounding “Amen!” to the poet’s words. The thing that has changed mul­tiple times is the name of the house. Katharina Hra­decky decided on ”Hotel Hin­ter­egger“ when she took the pro­perty over in 2003, keeping family history at the hotel, like the mountain itself, ever present and in view. The type of accom­mo­dation pro­vided has changed too. Whereas, at the beginning of the 20th century, a “lovely room” and seven straw mat­tresses had been on offer, guests today have the choice of a variety of quality accom­mo­dation options in 39 rooms.

All this is not only the result of the inno­vative spirit and deter­mi­nation of the present gene­ration, but also of a for­tuitous encounter with the right archi­tects who have been turning the owners‘ ideas into actual reality for over a decade now.

Fortune helped them for the third time as they searched for just the right team of archi­tects in 2006. Inns­bruck-based archi­tec­tural practice Madritsch + Pfurtscheller had built a family house in the locality which was very much in the style of the Hra­decky family’s aspi­ra­tions. This third inter­vention of fate was to become a success story marked by mutual respect, trust and under­standing ever since.

”Our col­la­bo­ration with the deve­lopers has been shaped from the start with great trust in each other’s capa­bi­lities. This trust carried us through the entire planning and building process tog­ether – which was, as you can imagine, not always straight­forward. This formed the foun­da­tions of our rela­ti­onship, opened up a channel for the flow of ideas and faci­li­tated the actual process. It was a trust that, in a word, inspired” — Reinhard Madritsch & Robert Pfurtscheller

A well-cal­cu­lated step-by-step com­plete reno­vation and test of endu­rance

In what have amounted to ten building phases to date, large sec­tions of the hotel have been moder­nised, and further remo­delling is in the planning. The advantage of many years’ suc­cessful col­la­bo­ration is evident in the con­sistent archi­tec­tural signature which – despite all the dif­fe­rences in size and com­plexity between indi­vidual project phases – runs like a guiding thread through every structure. Not to create the wrong impression: the various suc­cessive building phases – here in par­ti­cular the tran­si­tions between existing buil­dings and the rede­signed sec­tions in their varied mani­fes­ta­tions are clearly per­cep­tible and have their own appeal. The informed observer will dis­cover tran­sition zones between the dif­ferent con­s­truction phases and with the his­toric part.

This is what the archi­tects refer to as “con­s­truction as a fluid series of inter­ven­tions”. What sounds both won­derful and at the same time com­pli­cated can be easily understood on site, given the appro­priate expertise and know­ledge. Or you can just take the ”Hin­ter­egger“ for what it actually is: a modern hotel with a won­derful family atmo­sphere and typical Aus­trian hos­pi­tality – per­sonal, sincere, attentive, and tas­teful without the slightest extra­va­gance. Well thought-out and with a feel-good atmo­sphere of who­le­so­meness without being fussy or overly theo­re­tical.

A departure into Modernism

The first major mile­stone of this ongoing deve­lo­pment was the con­version of the cinema wing which was com­pleted in 2007. The village cinema which was housed in the building and the theatre were trans­formed into guest rooms as early as 1962 and were in need of tho­rough moder­ni­sation. It was the owners’ desire to create a living ambiance domi­nated by natural mate­rials and pan­o­ramic views. The his­toric fabric of the building should be con­served and remain visible. A wellness zone was essential. For this purpose Madritsch & Pfurtscheller envi­saged a radical con­version that could be rea­lised by mortarless con­s­truction in a rela­tively short space of time. The two-storey cinema served as an unsup­ported ”shell“ and was extended upwards by one storey; loggias made from KLH units were posi­tioned in advance, incre­asing the floor area.

Two modern living floors with rooms of varying sizes were created, some of which have a free-standing bath tub. The timber con­s­truction has been com­ple­mented by larch flo­or­boards. Modular fur­niture was added as well as (oiled) MDF fix­tures and fit­tings and large pan­o­ramic windows, giving the rooms a com­for­table, unclut­tered feel and won­derful views out into the mountain land­scape. Now, instead of films, it is the cine­matic land­scape that pro­vides the expe­rience. The entire space has been sur­rounded by a simple larchwood skin. In the rooms of the two upper storeys as well as in the ground-floor wellness zone, the former cinema– now with clay daub plas­tering and wall heating – remained visible and pal­pable. From here the spa area opens up into a large terrace and out into the garden. Since 2013 a pond-style pool has been available for guests to swim in.

A kerbside feast: the new restaurant

One further show­piece on the pre­mises is the new dining room created in 2011. In front of the ori­ginal building Madritsch & Pfurtscheller have erected a large single-storey glass panel, and then extended the building to meet the glass, so that you are lite­rally sitting at the edge of the pavement. The detailed con­s­truction involved making the glass as unob­trusive as pos­sible so as to dis­appear at the lower end into the cobbled pavement. Inside, the dining room is plea­santly quiet and simple. Oak floors and fur­niture are ele­gantly dis­creet and enhance the atmo­sphere of the room and the impact of the high-tech lighting. The restaurant ambiance is such that you have to keep reminding yourself that you are not in a big city envi­ronment. It com­bines the advan­tages of both worlds: you feel com­for­tably metro­po­litan and at the same time can soak in the bene­ficial effects of this rural idyll with its stunning Alpine backdrop.

Evo­lution 2017 – the corner extension

In the final signi­ficant step, for the time being at least, in the tran­sition zone between the old building and the former cinema wing, five rooms have been com­pletely reno­vated and extended upwards one storey. The new rooms represent one more stage in the ongoing moder­nising evo­lution. Behind a white glazed sheet metal panel, generous rooms are con­cealed by the large glass façade behind it. Unob­served but with won­derful views and changing lighting moods, are rooms that open out expan­sively towards the outside with ter­races and bal­conies, secluding the building on the street side. Fully glazed wet rooms, free-standing beds in a pan­o­ramic area and top quality mini­malist fit­tings in spruce, Swiss pine and oak timber and wool and loden cloth form the modern-day tran­sition between the building sec­tions.

Straight to the table – from the hotel’s own fields, farmer’s garden and cowshed

Local cuisine really lives up to that name here. The meat comes from a farm run by the owners at the edge of town. This is where the spe­cialist know­ledge of Bernd Hra­decky comes into play, a prac­ticing vet whose cow­sheds, newly built in 2013, were designed to maximise comfort for the animals and con­di­tions as close to nature as pos­sible. Guests can dis­cover where the fresh herbs and vege­tables they consume as part of their evening meal actually grow by walking through Matrei itself. The tra­di­tional farmer’s garden still tended by Katharina‘s mother lies, as it always has done, in the middle of town. Wha­tever comes out of the hotel kit­chens is deli­berately void of unnecessary extra­va­gance. What is served here is tra­di­tional Tirolese cooking – fresh and down-to-earth. The morning herbal teas come from a local Alpine artisan, the apple juice comes from the hotel’s own orchards and is home pressed. The bread is home baked from home-grown ingre­dients using the house’s own recipe handed down through the gene­ra­tions. And the pro­ducers of the select Aus­trian wines served here know the hosts per­so­nally, of course. So, the house maxim applies equally to its culinary delights: “Beauty is simple. It’s always the simple, natural things that take our breath away and rob us of the power of speech.“

The lounge has now also been reno­vated. It has a won­derfully unclut­tered feel without having lost any of its his­toric charm. The archi­tects have suc­ceeded here too on the one hand in removing any unnecessary “frills” and yet keeping the warmth and unique cha­racter of a tra­di­tional lounge, trans­porting these qua­lities into a new era. You must take a look at the new cellar bar created in 2012, available for wine tastings in a cosy yet con­tem­porary atmo­sphere.

Further con­s­truction phases are being planned. For ins­tance, the ent­rance hall and reception will soon be given an “update”. But one thing at a time! Logi­cally enough, it has proved valuable to involve even the regular guests in this process of ongoing trans­for­mation. These gradual changes have resulted in positive feedback from them too. Stage-by-stage con­version enables guests to “grow with the pre­mises” and to expe­rience the pro­gression of this archi­tec­tural trans­for­mation at close quarters.

Between 15 Sep­tember and 31 October the ”Hin­ter­egger“ invites guests to its Golden Autumn in Paradise. In any other season there are countless outdoor acti­vities on offer. Walking, skiing or dis­co­vering the National Park’s “Big Five”: alias marmot, golden eagle, chamois, ibex and bearded vulture – things are never boring. Infor­mation on the high­lights of the National Park can be obtained from the National Park Visitor’s Centre within walking distance. If you are just looking for some peace and quiet, the spa and various optional wellness packages are available.

Should all this have whetted your appetite to travel, infor­mation and news to help you plan can be obtained here: National park Hohe Tauern and Matrei.

By Ulrich Stefan Knoll, August 2018

Photo credits
1 / 2 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 89 / 10 / 17: Private coll­ection
4 / 11 / 12 / 15 / 16  / 18 /21 / 22 / 23 and title photo: © Wolfgang Retter
6: © Andreas Friedle
8 / 20: © Madritsch & Pfurtscheller
13 / 14 / 19 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27: © Profer & Partner

The hotel

Hotel Hotel Hin­ter­egger

Hotel Hotel Hin­ter­egger

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Family owned for over 100 years, Hotel Hin­ter­egger has been remo­deled and enlarged over several gene­ra­tions. Old and new are clearly per­cep­tible and yet har­mo­niously united.

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