Pension Zechnerhof or: Where to find me before summer ends

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The kids are cheering. Sparkles in their eyes are competing with the shooting star shower that’s happening above us. They are jumping up and down in excitement next to the “grown-up kids”, who are just as excited, as they are watching the campfire burn higher and higher. I look around at all those faces I know so well, at the people who have been my summer family for a very long time. The ones I might not have a lot in common with, but I definitely share a deep love for a very special place and uncountable amazing memories with…


“This year, we need to vacation at a farm, before I am too old for that kind of stuff” My ten year old self knew exactly what she wanted to do that summer of 2004. My golf-obsessed dad, on the other hand, had a very good understanding of how his ideal summer holiday would look like. You might have guessed it, it was not a farm. But because I was a spoiled kid – and because my dad is the best at researching things he wants – we found a compromise. Austria’s first farm offering a driving range to golf obsessed parents like my dad. While I wasn’t sure about my dad’s choice in the beginning – I needed attention, after all – I changed my mind as soon as I stepped out of the car and into the magical world they call Zechnerhof. Screaming kids were chasing a donkey, sheep and goats through the backyard, their parents were watching as it was the most normal thing in the world and I loved it instantly. Of course I did. Which 10-year old wouldn’t? It took me all of 2 minutes to find friends and for the rest of the week we were chasing animals, jumping into haystacks, taking care of baby rabbits, riding horses and most importantly: playing cops and robbers together. My parents only saw me whenever I was hungry that week – ok, I am hungry a lot, but I think you get the point. The rest of the time I was off going on adventures with my new friends. At the end of the week I cried rivers because leaving that happy place broke my heart a bit.


Back then, I didn’t know you could fall in love with a place, but that summer I did. Little did I know how many places would follow that first love straight into my heart. I’ve seen my fair share of the world, lived in truly amazing places, but none of them stuck with me quite as much as Zechnerhof did.

Of  course we went back the summer after. And every summer ever since. With all the other friends my parents and I had made. Year after year, our group got bigger. Some people stopped coming for a while, but eventually, they all found their way back. As our group changed, not only we got older but also the farm changed. We watched it grow and evolve just the same way it watched us “mature” – if we really did is still questionable, though. Obviously, we don’t chase animals through the backyard anymore. We do, however, jump into haystacks, still. We also still spend rainy days playing board and card games for hours. We go hiking and mushroom picking and fishing and biking and partying and everything in between and it is simply the best.


It’s hard to describe that perfect simplicity and bliss I feel every summer. It’s like even though we don’t really see each other throughout the year, we’re all a big family that week. We’re all taking care of each other, go hiking in weird combinations of people, leaving strangers wondering how we’re all related. We take care of the others’ kids, support each other and at the end of the week, we all have drinks around the campfire, sing songs and get a bit sentimental. It’s so simple, yet so special. It’s one of those rare places were the guests don’t feel like they’re kings, but more like family members. Don’t get me wrong, the Glanzer’s are doing everything to make their guests happy. But it’s little things like sitting in the kitchen to clean the mushrooms we’ve just picked while G, the Glanzer’s son and chef at the farm, is preparing our dinner and cracking jokes. Or when C, boss and entertainer, sits down at the campfire with us. These things might be tiny but they do make you feel special.


For years now, two English families go on the long journey from London to Zechnerhof, because they can't stay away either. When they left to go to Venice and Sicily last week, I asked  O, 12 years old, if he was excited for the trip. “I’d rather stay here”, was his answer. I knew exactly what he was talking about.


Some of the people around me won’t come back next year. I think of all the people I’ve met here over the years and the memories we’ve made. I know I will see them again in the future. Because everybody comes back, eventually. There will be loads of opportunities to annoy the other guests with how loud we are, to leave our stuff all around the place, to show the others that a little part of us belongs to this place and a little part of it belongs to us.

What is left to say to my 10-year old self is this: I might be too old to go on a farm holiday. But I will never be too old to go on a Zechnerhof one.


Pension Zechnerhof
Marbachstraße 67
8861 St. Georgen

Tel: +43 3537 258
Fax: +43 3537 258-4
e-Mail: info@zechnerhof.at 
Web: www.zechnerhof.at


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