The Gartenhotel Theresia****Superior and the Hotel Johann**** in Saalbach-Hinterglemm are now in their 3rd generation of owner-managers. The Brettermeier family transformed the two hotels into the first hotels in the Salzburg region to offer fully organic cuisine, all day long. As such, the hotels are pioneers of organic cuisine in the province.
The grandmother of Marianne Brettermeier, Theresia Gensbichler (born in 1906), laid the foundations for the current Hotel Theresia right after the Second World War by setting up the Gasthof Auhof guesthouse. She earned the required start-up capital by working for many long and deprived years as a self-employed dairy farmer, renting out an Alpine hut every summer and looking after the cows of farmers who did not have their own pastures. She was paid not in money, but rather with natural produce. She milked the cows, made the milk into butter and cheese and supplied the products to the owners of the cows, keeping some back for herself as a reward for her hard work. She sold her own home-made butter and magnificent Pinzgau cheese. Over the years, she built up a herd of goats and a few cows which she sold off all together at the end of the 1940s to purchase a plot of land to fulfil her lifetime ambition – to build her own home and guesthouse. The guesthouse was not completed until 1955 because there were insufficient funds available for any further development. Theresia came from the only family of farmers in Hinterglemm to own a guesthouse in addition to being farmers – the village pub, with a so-called dance floor. As was then the custom in rural regions, the ownership of the estate was divided up between the four sons. The two daughters received only a cupboard and their dowry, i.e. linen, crockery, cutlery, etc. for the new household and the right to live with one of their brothers until their wedding day; young Theresia lived with her brother Hans and his family at the Hintermaisalm hut where she later also gave birth to her own two children. She also ran a horse dealership with her brother Hans, which took her to South Tyrol. This grandmother was a strong and enterprising woman with her own mind. She never married, despite having two children by the same man who was the love of her life: Johann Hasenauer, a farmer in Hinterglemm. Neither of them ever had any other partners and the two always supported each other and dedicated their lives to the well-being of their children, despite living apart. The son of the two, Bartholomäus, was adopted by his father Johann to ensure that the family name of Hasenauer stayed with the farm and was passed on to successive generations of farmers. His daughter Marianne was born at the hut on the alpine pasture in 1928 and continued the running of the guesthouse her grandmother had founded with its 45 guest beds. She also received a plot of land from her father where she established the Hotel Egger at the end of the 1950s along with her husband Franz, the son of a mountain farmer from Jochberg near Kitzbühel in Tyrol, born in 1919. The hotel is now owned by the brother of Mrs Brettermeier, Josef Egger.
Grandmother Theresia continued to pull the strings in the background for a long time. Towards the end of her life, she was able to look back on a fulfilling life and enjoyed the success of her children and grandchildren, although she remained contemplative and cautionary in recalling the dark, deprived and difficult years of war and hunger she had suffered. She remembered the global financial crisis and the great economic collapse of 1928 well, even in old age, and as a result was always fearful of debt and never trusted the banks. She only invested when she had money in her pocket. She died just a year after grandfather Johann, her true love and the father of her children. The two were buried in the same grave, as was his last wish. A fitting end to a great yet unconventional love, despite their being unable to live together. The two were also founding members of the Hinterglemm cable cars in 1950. The grandfather in the form of shift work and natural materials (wood for the lift supports) and the grandmother with 5,000 schillings of cash – a large sum of money for her to produce. Both recognised the need to invest in the future of tourism and were prepared to take the risk.
Their daughter Marianne married Franz Egger in 1954. Their daughter Marianne was born in 1955, their son Josef in 1956 and youngest son Franz in 1966.
At an age when others were taking retirement, they completely pulled down the guesthouse in 1980 and built the Hotel Theresia in 1981 with 96 guest beds. At the time, it was fitted with an indoor pool and two saunas and was officially designated as a 4 ½ star hotel. In the mid-90s, they also built the Aparthotel Hechenberg for their youngest son Franz with 12 holiday apartments in Hinterglemm.
Father Egger was a highly commendable managing director of the ever expanding Hinterglemm cable cars as well as being deputy mayor, managing director of the Saalbach-Hinterglemm tourist board and above all a passionate hotelier, hiking guide for his guests in summer and winter and a true fan of the mountains! Unfortunately he died in 1999, just one week before his 80th birthday. Many of his regular guests still miss their conversations with him and his stories about the history and people of the valley and his ‘philosophising about God and the world’!
In 1981, Marianne junior, the granddaughter of Theresia who was born in the former Gasthof Auhof guesthouse, returned to her hometown to work in her parents’ business, as planned, following her 5 years of study at the Schloss Klesheim school of tourism in Salzburg, a 3 month stay in Paris and graduation from studies in social and business sciences in Innsbruck and Graz where she met and fell in love with her husband Harald, a fellow student from Klagenfurt. Marianne and Harald married in 1983 and their son Harald junior was born in 1984 (the creative mind in the family who studied information design). He was followed by their son Franz-Josef in 1986 (a student in international business management and political sciences, currently living in Innsbruck) and their daughter Anna-Theresa in 1993 (currently a student at the 5 year tourism school – following in the footsteps of her mother). At the end of the 1980s, Marianne Brettermeier-Egger and her husband took over the management of the Hotel Theresia. Under their management, the hotel was transformed into a designer hotel with a clear focus: modern design and timeless tradition. The renowned and award-winning Pichelmann architecture office, based in Vienna (Gustav Pichelmann is a cousin of Mr Brettermeier) redesigned the classic Alpine hotel from 2003 to 2008 during the autumn months. The style of the hotel is now defined by its light woods, clear modern lines, natural lighting and unobtrusive light effects. This all creates a sense of ‘new purism’ yet without any sense of coolness or distance – with lively personality and an Austrian touch. Since then, the Brettermeiers have continued investing in improving the Hotel Theresia, including environmentally-friendly and resource-saving measures, and ‘last but not least’ in the highest quality organic food.
The gallery for contemporary and modern art is the passion of art lover, Harald Brettermeier, as well as a welcome addition to the hotel for guests interested in art.
We consider our guests from all over the world to be friends of our hotel and it gives us great pleasure to spoil them during their stay! As one regular guest put it: “This hotel has soul!” And we want to preserve that. After all, as Gustav Mahler said, “Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire”.
It is a matter of great concern to us to share the tradition and development of the hotel and the region with our guests during the weekly history hour – based on the gallery of magnificent old photographs in the hotel lobby. Why not take part and enjoy a special welcome!
With best wishes from the Brettermeier family and Mrs Egger (now in great health at the age of 85 – the heart of her extended family)
PS: The name of the hotel was changed in 1981 from ‘Gasthof Auhof’ to ‘Hotel Theresia’ in honour of its founder, grandmother Theresia. And she was very pleased about it! She lived with us until she died in 1992 at home, surrounded by her family.
In December 2012 the name of the Aparthotel Theresia has been changed into Hotel Johann - in honour and in memory of grandfather Johann Hasenauer.
So Theresia & Johann stand "side by side" posthum.
The grandmother of Marianne Brettermeier, Theresia Gensbichler (born in 1906), laid the foundations for the current Hotel Theresia right after the Second World War by setting up the Gasthof Auhof guesthouse. She earned the required start-up capital by working for many long and deprived years as a self-employed dairy farmer, renting out an Alpine hut every summer and looking after the cows of farmers who did not have their own pastures. She was paid not in money, but rather with natural produce. She milked the cows, made the milk into butter and cheese and supplied the products to the owners of the cows, keeping some back for herself as a reward for her hard work. She sold her own home-made butter and magnificent Pinzgau cheese. Over the years, she built up a herd of goats and a few cows which she sold off all together at the end of the 1940s to purchase a plot of land to fulfil her lifetime ambition – to build her own home and guesthouse. The guesthouse was not completed until 1955 because there were insufficient funds available for any further development. Theresia came from the only family of farmers in Hinterglemm to own a guesthouse in addition to being farmers – the village pub, with a so-called dance floor. As was then the custom in rural regions, the ownership of the estate was divided up between the four sons. The two daughters received only a cupboard and their dowry, i.e. linen, crockery, cutlery, etc. for the new household and the right to live with one of their brothers until their wedding day; young Theresia lived with her brother Hans and his family at the Hintermaisalm hut where she later also gave birth to her own two children. She also ran a horse dealership with her brother Hans, which took her to South Tyrol. This grandmother was a strong and enterprising woman with her own mind. She never married, despite having two children by the same man who was the love of her life: Johann Hasenauer, a farmer in Hinterglemm. Neither of them ever had any other partners and the two always supported each other and dedicated their lives to the well-being of their children, despite living apart. The son of the two, Bartholomäus, was adopted by his father Johann to ensure that the family name of Hasenauer stayed with the farm and was passed on to successive generations of farmers. His daughter Marianne was born at the hut on the alpine pasture in 1928 and continued the running of the guesthouse her grandmother had founded with its 45 guest beds. She also received a plot of land from her father where she established the Hotel Egger at the end of the 1950s along with her husband Franz, the son of a mountain farmer from Jochberg near Kitzbühel in Tyrol, born in 1919. The hotel is now owned by the brother of Mrs Brettermeier, Josef Egger.
Grandmother Theresia continued to pull the strings in the background for a long time. Towards the end of her life, she was able to look back on a fulfilling life and enjoyed the success of her children and grandchildren, although she remained contemplative and cautionary in recalling the dark, deprived and difficult years of war and hunger she had suffered. She remembered the global financial crisis and the great economic collapse of 1928 well, even in old age, and as a result was always fearful of debt and never trusted the banks. She only invested when she had money in her pocket. She died just a year after grandfather Johann, her true love and the father of her children. The two were buried in the same grave, as was his last wish. A fitting end to a great yet unconventional love, despite their being unable to live together. The two were also founding members of the Hinterglemm cable cars in 1950. The grandfather in the form of shift work and natural materials (wood for the lift supports) and the grandmother with 5,000 schillings of cash – a large sum of money for her to produce. Both recognised the need to invest in the future of tourism and were prepared to take the risk.
Their daughter Marianne married Franz Egger in 1954. Their daughter Marianne was born in 1955, their son Josef in 1956 and youngest son Franz in 1966.
At an age when others were taking retirement, they completely pulled down the guesthouse in 1980 and built the Hotel Theresia in 1981 with 96 guest beds. At the time, it was fitted with an indoor pool and two saunas and was officially designated as a 4 ½ star hotel. In the mid-90s, they also built the Aparthotel Hechenberg for their youngest son Franz with 12 holiday apartments in Hinterglemm.
Father Egger was a highly commendable managing director of the ever expanding Hinterglemm cable cars as well as being deputy mayor, managing director of the Saalbach-Hinterglemm tourist board and above all a passionate hotelier, hiking guide for his guests in summer and winter and a true fan of the mountains! Unfortunately he died in 1999, just one week before his 80th birthday. Many of his regular guests still miss their conversations with him and his stories about the history and people of the valley and his ‘philosophising about God and the world’!
In 1981, Marianne junior, the granddaughter of Theresia who was born in the former Gasthof Auhof guesthouse, returned to her hometown to work in her parents’ business, as planned, following her 5 years of study at the Schloss Klesheim school of tourism in Salzburg, a 3 month stay in Paris and graduation from studies in social and business sciences in Innsbruck and Graz where she met and fell in love with her husband Harald, a fellow student from Klagenfurt. Marianne and Harald married in 1983 and their son Harald junior was born in 1984 (the creative mind in the family who studied information design). He was followed by their son Franz-Josef in 1986 (a student in international business management and political sciences, currently living in Innsbruck) and their daughter Anna-Theresa in 1993 (currently a student at the 5 year tourism school – following in the footsteps of her mother). At the end of the 1980s, Marianne Brettermeier-Egger and her husband took over the management of the Hotel Theresia. Under their management, the hotel was transformed into a designer hotel with a clear focus: modern design and timeless tradition. The renowned and award-winning Pichelmann architecture office, based in Vienna (Gustav Pichelmann is a cousin of Mr Brettermeier) redesigned the classic Alpine hotel from 2003 to 2008 during the autumn months. The style of the hotel is now defined by its light woods, clear modern lines, natural lighting and unobtrusive light effects. This all creates a sense of ‘new purism’ yet without any sense of coolness or distance – with lively personality and an Austrian touch. Since then, the Brettermeiers have continued investing in improving the Hotel Theresia, including environmentally-friendly and resource-saving measures, and ‘last but not least’ in the highest quality organic food.
The gallery for contemporary and modern art is the passion of art lover, Harald Brettermeier, as well as a welcome addition to the hotel for guests interested in art.
We consider our guests from all over the world to be friends of our hotel and it gives us great pleasure to spoil them during their stay! As one regular guest put it: “This hotel has soul!” And we want to preserve that. After all, as Gustav Mahler said, “Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire”.
It is a matter of great concern to us to share the tradition and development of the hotel and the region with our guests during the weekly history hour – based on the gallery of magnificent old photographs in the hotel lobby. Why not take part and enjoy a special welcome!
With best wishes from the Brettermeier family and Mrs Egger (now in great health at the age of 85 – the heart of her extended family)
PS: The name of the hotel was changed in 1981 from ‘Gasthof Auhof’ to ‘Hotel Theresia’ in honour of its founder, grandmother Theresia. And she was very pleased about it! She lived with us until she died in 1992 at home, surrounded by her family.
In December 2012 the name of the Aparthotel Theresia has been changed into Hotel Johann - in honour and in memory of grandfather Johann Hasenauer.
So Theresia & Johann stand "side by side" posthum.
ONLINE INQUIRY
In order to offer you a relaxing holiday in clean and fresh air - not only outside in our beautiful nature but also inside
our hotel, smoking is only allowed in one designated area.
