The right measure: archi­tecture, culinary delights and host culture at the Krone in Hit­tisau

This message lingers pen­sively in my mind during the four-course menu. At some point, it com­bines with the culinary delights into a simple and obvious thought: Here, directly opposite, the Krone represents the worldly equi­valent, the house of man. If you like, it is also a gateway to heaven—but that of worldly plea­sures. Welcome to the Krone, a paradise for gourmets and friends of high-quality archi­tecture that has long since become a classic!

Anyone who asks Dietmar Nuß­baumer, the host, about the essence of what he does—in other words, who wants to know how it is pos­sible that the hotel, in all its facets, appears to be so serene and unpre­ten­tious, but at the same time radiates an equally peaceful and majestic, almost intan­gible magic from all corners—will receive a straight­forward and suc­cinct answer: “Beauty, reduction to the essen­tials, and eco­nomic management that is sui­table for grand­children”.

A few days and many con­ver­sa­tions later, I can con­fi­dently state that this is a very fitting description in view of what I have in the meantime—even more intensively—perceived myself.

In the forest, from the forest, with the forest

The hosts Helene Nuß­baumer-Natter and Dietmar Nuß­baumer as well as their phi­lo­sophy and its imple­men­tation in everyday rou­tines are in any case the decisive factor. After having taken over the Krone from Helene’s parents, they have further deve­loped the hotel—both in archi­tec­tural and culinary terms—in many years of con­version work.

Given his omni­present, cir­cum­spect manner, Dietmar Nuß­baumer can be safely described as a phe­no­menon. At the same time, he is viva­cious in a plea­santly quiet and reflective way and has the necessary feeling for every guest. His wife Helene, by con­trast, is less present in public per­ception. Her realm is the kitchen, where she, tog­ether with chef Michael Garcia Lopez and their team, wields a sceptre. This too is a great art, but a quieter one. Despite all this, the Krone is deli­berately much more than ‘two pro­prietors plus staff’. Helene and Dietmar under­stand them­selves and their team as ‘the Krone Family’. And that’s exactly how it feels.

In general, Hotel Krone is a house of phi­lo­sophy. Well, one should rather say: lived phi­lo­sophy. After all, what use are the most beau­tiful thoughts if they remain mere theory? Here, a lot of thought has been given to a great many topics, and that is good. Much of it can be found in the hotel’s ow magazine Edition Krone, which is extremely worth reading. It starts to be par­ti­cu­larly pleasing, however, when you realise that the topics poin­tedly pre­sented in there are not just theory or merely modern mar­keting but rather accu­rately describe the actual situation.

A good example of this is the inter­action between interior and exterior, i.e. the deep roo­tedness in the Bre­gen­zerwald region, in the context of which the hotel and its ope­rators see them­selves sym­bio­ti­cally embedded.

For, as we all know, Bre­gen­zerwald is a very special cosmos—not only but espe­cially for archi­tects and archi­tecture lovers. In this part of Vor­arlberg, the wes­ternmost state of Austria, a large number of planning and con­s­truction com­panies, which have been making a name for them­selves both natio­nally and inter­na­tio­nally for many years, can be found in a small area.

This deve­lo­pment was and is decisively pro­moted by Werkraum Bre­gen­zerwald, an asso­ciation of local craftsmen and desi­gners founded in 1999. Edu­cation, training, debate and com­pe­tition are essential aspects of the initiative, which is regarded as an exem­plary driver of inno­vation in Europe. Its visible symbol and public venue is the Werk­raumhaus in Andelsbuch, planned by Peter Zumthor and opened in 2013.

In addition, Bre­gen­zerwald and the region in the border tri­angle between the Rhine and Lake Con­s­tance is home to num­erous well-known archi­tects who have had and still have a decisive influence on both the tea­ching and practice of the pro­fession over many decades—among them are Ernst Hiesmayr, Hermann Kaufmann, Oskar Leo Kaufmann, Dietrich I Unter­trifaller Archi­tekten, Prof. Dietmar Eberle and Leopold Kaufmann, to name but a few.

No less talented, alt­hough less pro­minent in the public eye, are the local craft busi­nesses. Their skills are evident in the Krone par excellence—the hotel could very well pass as the ‘showroom’ of Werkraum Bre­gen­zerwald.

Con­tinued con­s­truction! Tog­ether.

The coope­ration between the hote­liers and Bregenz-based architect Ber­nardo Bader, which started in 2005, has been and still is very important for the further deve­lo­pment of the hotel. In two major con­s­truction phases (2007 / 2010) and with the con­s­truction of a new sauna house (2018), Bader has had a decisive influence on the ‘new Krone’.

According to him, the aim of the con­version and partial new con­s­truction, which has been awarded num­erous prizes, was to make the old existing building shine in new sple­ndour. This has been achieved by a special way of com­bining old and new, which deli­berately does not thrive on strong con­trasts or dra­matic con­fron­ta­tions.

“The delight in the log-estab­lished and the hete­ro­ge­neous was the main focus. The aim was to achieve archi­tec­tural syn­ergies that only the special context allows,” explained Bader.

There was one special feature that the hosts had requested in advance: no con­ven­tional invi­tation to tender for the trades was issued. Instead, they approached craftsmen whose quality they were per­so­nally con­vinced of. Another cir­cum­s­tance that also con­tri­buted signi­fi­cantly to the high quality of the con­s­truction mea­sures was the extremely dove­tailed work pro­cesses per­formed by the various trades. A high art—considering that almost 40 busi­nesses were involved. Solu­tions were mostly devised on site and bila­te­rally, often during the joint breakfast or lunch break.

Deter­mi­nation and pre­cision, both in detail and in its entirety

The result is well-designed comfort with top-quality work­manship 27 times over—in the form of the new Werkraum and Bre­gen­zerwald rooms. It thus represents a con­vincing con­ti­nuation of the building tra­dition of the guest­house built in 1838 by Johann Conrad Bechter and extended in the 1970s by Leopold Kaufmann. Leopold Kaufmann is respon­sible for the design of the Klassik rooms, which, alt­hough not new, are still cosy and much loved by many regular guests.

All in all, the new rooms in par­ti­cular are cha­rac­te­rised by an enormous and reduced clarity that almost has a Japanese feel to it. Excep­tio­nally precise exe­cution has ensured that ever­y­thing looks as if all is made of one piece. The expert use of wood as a key com­ponent of the visible sur­faces creates a warm, well-tem­pered ambience. In general, it is easy to see that despite all the art in planning and exe­cution, the human being, or in other words the guest, is the focus of attention here: the clarity of the design makes for a calm, relaxed mind, and the soothing effect of wood imme­diately makes you feel safe and secure. Thus, the Krone appears simple in a perfect sense, because it is natural.

Manu­facture, made in Bre­gen­zerwald

Craft­smanship in the Bre­gen­zerwald region means drawing from cen­turies of tra­dition without being stuck in the past. For here craft­smanship always means both—old and new. Or, as architect Georg Bechter so aptly put it:

“Departure, less as aban­donment, rather as enrichment, deve­lo­pment in tran­sition.”

Quality, made in Bre­gen­zerwald, the epitome of which you expe­rience in the Krone, the­r­efore means: no serial pro­duction, no standard solu­tions; instead, manu­facture, always imple­mented at the limit.

One of the many craftsmen involved in the con­version is the Hit­tisau-based master joiner Markus Faißt. A visit to his workshop vividly illus­trates the prudent handling of the material, its precise pro­cessing and the careful and indi­vidual planning of the respective task. The under­lying con­vic­tions are also clearly evident: only wood grown in the region and felled in accordance with sui­table moon phases is used. Whether oak, beech, silver fir, ash, spruce, sycamore maple or elm—the wood is stored for several years in his own maturing warehouse and pro­cessed exclu­sively as solid wood. Instead of nails, com­posite or plastic, handed down expe­rience and modern skills are applied.

In this way, high-quality, custom-made pieces of fur­niture are created, whose value—since they are never an end in themselves—is now and then only noticed on site at second glance, because they know how to blend in.

Toques, stars, spoons—pure culinary pleasure

The cuisine at the Krone is refined but, like the hotel itself, not overdone and arti­ficial but rather down-to-earth and rooted in its own tra­dition and in the region. Special attention is paid to seven prin­ciples, which the Krone kitchen team has imposed on itself as ‘rules of good taste’. Dedi­cation, sim­plicity, care, hand­craft in the literal sense of the word, harmony and precise know­ledge of the regional and sea­sonal offers are the essential factors of the con­ti­nuing success.

This is app­re­ciated not only by the guests but also by inter­na­tional gas­tro­nomic critics. For example, the Krone has been listed as an awarded gourmet restaurant for two and a half decades. The success story began under senior pro­prietor Wilma Natter and is carefully con­tinued by her daughter Helene and her team to this day.

Curr­ently, the hotel restaurant is listed by Gault-Millau with two toques (14.5/20), Fal­staff rates the Krone with three forks (90/100) and A la Carte awarded it three stars (82/100).

“Dining at the Krone has always had an almost spi­ritual quality.” – Helene Nuß­baumer-Natter

The Aus­trian restaurant guide A la Carte describes a cuisine that does without frills; bound to tra­dition, quiet and yet modern. Little can be added to this, except: Bon appetit!

The sel­ection of wines that can be enjoyed with this is as large as it is exquisite. This is because wine is another of Dietmar Nuß­bau­mer’s pet pas­sions, to which he dedi­cates himself with devotion. He prefers to do this on the spot, because then he not only knows about the general quality of the pro­ducts, which is beyond doubt, but also how the wine will com­plement the Krone—how it will blend with the air, the place itself and its aromas. This is why he likes to invite well-known wine­makers, such as South Tyrolean vini­cul­turist Alois Lageder, to the Krone. And so, on returning from a hike in the afternoon, you will find the two of them in the restaurant having an intense conversation—true dedi­cation, down to the last detail.

Miracle machine, march!

Back on the sun terrace, I ask myself how the public square in front of the hotel could be pro­perly designed—it urgently needs a design overhaul in order to again represent the town centre appro­priately in the future—, only to find out that ever­y­thing has already been thought of. Well, how could it be otherwise. Of course, here in the heart of this archi­tecture-obsessed region, not only have intensive thoughts been given to this topic in recent years, but an archi­tecture com­pe­tition has long since been orga­nised, the jury of which included high-ranking archi­tects like Prof. Dietmar Eberle (Baum­schlager Eberle Archi­tekten) and Günther Vogt (Vogt Land­schafts­ar­chi­tekten). The ‘miracle machine’ of Bre­gen­zerwald con­tinues to run at full speed, always self-con­fident, but free of any airs and graces.