At the intersection of cultures, past and present
The village of "Unsere Liebe Frau im Walde - St. Felix" is essentially characterised by the pilgrimage church of the Assumption of Mary, the tower of which dates back to Romanesque times. Later, the nave was rebuilt in Gothic style and consecrated by the Bishop of Trento in 1432. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the interior was decorated in Baroque style with carved altars and an image of the Virgin Mary with the Child. The road over the Gampenjoch led pilgrims to the village, where a hospice had already been built by monks next to the church in the Middle Ages.
Historic pilgrims' hostel in new splendour
In the immediate vicinity of the pilgrimage church is the pilgrims' hostel, which was first mentioned in a document in 1184. Especially during the heyday of pilgrimage in the 11th and 12th centuries, it provided shelter and meals for countless pilgrims. Today, the former hospice and inn shines in a new guise as the "Hotel Gasthof Zum Hirschen".
Hotel Gasthof zum Hirschen: Minimalism without sacrificing comfort
When the renovation was due in 2017, the architects and the owner family Kofler-Mocatti agreed that the original purpose of the house had to remain tangible in its design, interior and architecture. The house should offer its guests a place of peace, contemplation and relaxation.
And indeed, the special philosophy of the house is reflected in all areas, from the façade to the restaurant and bistro, from the sauna to the new and comfortable rooms in three different categories. While the Hospitium rooms convey the introspective character of the former pilgrims' cell in a contemporary spatial language, the Gasthof rooms with their furniture made of spruce wood, with nostalgic light sources and chairs from the old farmhouse parlour - interpreted simply and without frills - make reference to Tyrolean tradition.
Space, light, minimalist furniture design and reflection on the essentials characterise the rooms in the "Luc" category, which is the name of the nearby mountain "Laugen" in the local Nones dialect.
It is easy for guests to arrive and find themselves in the simplicity. There are no TVs in the rooms, no Wi-Fi signal after midnight, and instead minimalism and soothing security instead of sensory overload. The focus is on the connection to nature.
Upscale restaurant cuisine with regional organic ingredients
The effective power of herbs is used in many ways at the Hotel Gasthof zum Hirschen. In the hotel's CERVO restaurant, traditional South Tyrolean cuisine, complemented by the cuisine of Trentino, is combined with the herbal knowledge of Hildegard von Bingen and the herbal priest H.J. Weidinger. In addition to regionality, orientation to the seasons also plays a central role in the menu. As in the entire Deutschnonsberg, a variety of creations are dedicated to the lion's number in the Hirschen in spring. The dandelion menu alone comprises 20 items with delicacies such as the risottino of carnaroli rice with dandelion trifle or antipasti with various types of bacon, goat cheese, dandelion nest, dandelion wild garlic pesto, butter and honey. Summer offers forest aroma weeks, among other things, and in autumn game dishes and mushrooms play a starring role on the menu.
For those who wish - and this is highly recommended - Edith Kofler, the warm-hearted senior chef and mother of Mirko and Ingrid Mocatti, serves a CERVO elixir before the meal. This is a concentrate of aromas and essences from the forest. Based on the recipe of Hildegard von Bingen, the hot drink gently prepares the body for food intake. The scents stimulate saliva production and open the stomach. Slowness, in keeping with the Slow Food orientation of the house, and conscious enjoyment are embodied by the elixir.
Culinary experience offers
In addition to guided alpine hikes or "forest bathing", Mirko Mocatti also gives his guests insights into his and his sister's kitchen philosophy and the culinary treasures of the region. Guests can take part in herb or spice workshops, book an excursion to a Merano chocolate factory or accompany the chef to one of his suppliers.
A special experience is a visit to the Roatnockerhof, the bread supplier of the Hotel Gasthof. There, every Friday, a sourdough rye bread is baked in a wood-fired oven. The ritual begins in the morning hours with the preparation of the dough and ends in the afternoon in the bakery, where Margareth and Georg bake the Roatnocker Ur-Paarlen.
Also worth a visit is the Widumhof, which is less than five minutes' walk from the hotel. Many of the products that are made into fine dishes in the hotel inn come from this traditional South Tyrolean farm. In the cellar of the adjoining Speckalm, you can get to know the original bacon tradition and also taste it on the hearty snack plates. Quite a few visitors and guests stock up on sausage and meat products from the farm's own butcher's shop before heading home.
Electrically mobile on the road and on site
South Tyrol is easy to reach with the trains of the Austrian Federal Railways, the Swiss Federal Railways and the German Railways. From the provincial capital of Bolzano, a connecting train runs directly to Merano. Once there, travellers on the DB/ÖBB trains can use the South Tyrol connection ticket to get to their accommodation on the day of arrival or to the train station on the day of return. A comfortable way to get to your holiday home on Deutschnonsberg is offered by various transfer providers such as Südtirol Bus, which connects almost all accommodation establishments with the most important, nearest South Tyrolean railway stations.
If you fancy a relaxed bike tour without too much effort, you can rent an e-mountain bike from the Hotel Gasthof zum Hirschen for a leisurely day trip or an ambitious mountain conquest.
Our e-trip with the Audi e-tron GT quattro
The press department of Audi AG provided us with an electric sports coupé, the e-tron GT quattro, as a test car for the e-trip to South Tyrol. Now some readers will rightly ask why we are reviewing such a "bullet" in a sustainability magazine of all places, but in this case we also wanted to find out whether such a powerhouse can be driven in a relatively energy-saving way. And what better way to test this, especially on the ups and downs of mountain roads. Moreover, we too are not only rational and completely free of automotive emotions and were looking forward - rightly so, as it turned out - to a driving experience of a special kind. With a "Stromer" whose design radiates a great deal of dynamism and which also delivers on this promise in practice thanks to tremendous driving performance. If you want, you can be catapulted to 100 km/h in less than 5 seconds despite a vehicle weight of more than two tonnes. This is made possible by an impressive 476 hp, which can even be increased to 530 hp in the selectable overboost mode. We didn't want this, but even without exhausting the performance potential, we were impressed by the brute acceleration and the extremely homogeneous power delivery. A plus for speedy overtaking.
Basically, however, we were more interested in the possibility of moving the electric runabout as efficiently as possible. And indeed, with an average consumption of 22 kWh/100 km, we achieved an exceptionally low value for this vehicle class. Of course, this was also due to the fact that we were mostly on the road in the economical efficiency driving mode. The range after a full charge was thus always at least 420 kilometres. The fast-charging capability of an electric vehicle is at least as important for its suitability for travelling as a sufficient range, and here too the e-tron GT scores points thanks to its 800 V on-board architecture. At moderate temperatures, a charging power of up to 270 kW is possible at the Hypercharger, so that the e-sports car can be charged from ten to 80 percent in about 20 minutes.
Especially in downhill passages, the considerable recuperation, which is partly due to the high weight of the vehicle, also contributes to the increase in range. The two electric motors take over the majority of the normal braking processes, almost to a standstill, while the wheel brakes only come into play when there is a strong deceleration.
On the way back, we were able to experience the essential features of the sporty Audi stomper during the "storming" of the Jaufen Pass over 30 kilometres at an altitude of almost 2100 metres: The impressive dynamics, perfect driving stability and, last but not least, the great energy recovery, which enabled us to collect plenty of range kilometres again on the downhill drive towards Sterzing.
Anyone who wants to be intoxicated by enormous driving performance, is also willing and able to spend more than 100,000 euros on special automotive fun and, last but not least, is agile enough to move smoothly into a vehicle that is just under one and a half metres flat, will certainly make a good choice with the Audi e-tron GT. In any case, we were delighted with our e-trip, especially since there were really only a few minor annoyances that should not go unmentioned. Firstly, there is the fact that the last selected driving mode - in our case mostly Efficiency - has to be reselected every time the car is started. Secondly, there are plenty of sensors in the GT - after all, they are there for safety. However, if acoustic warning signals are activated when you are still more than two metres away from a garden fence at a red light, the constant beeping gets on your nerves in the long run. A little more fine-tuning is needed here. And why the display in the central field of vision shows the traffic sign recognition system with an oversized speed indicator is also beyond us. So the focus is not on the actual speed, but on the prescribed speed. Certainly, some presettings can be individually adjusted, but we wanted to get an impression of the vehicle in the delivered status.
The charging situation on site
What is amazing, however, is the perfect charging situation in the village and at the hotel. This is despite the fact that Deutschnonsberg is not really a tourist hotspot. Guests of the hotel can easily charge their "electric cars" overnight at a wallbox under the hotel's own carport, and those who only indulge in culinary delights at the inn will find a Fastcharger less than two hundred metres from the hotel. The reason: the province of South Tyrol has installed more than 30 fast chargers in smaller villages to increase the attractiveness of rural areas. This is how forward-looking infrastructure and tourism policy works.
Historic South Tyrol
Historic hotels have joined forces in 2019 to form the "Historic Inns of South Tyrol" offer group, whose goal and purpose is to increase the appreciation and increased visibility of their hotels and restaurants. The Hotel Gasthof zum Hirschen is one of these venerable establishments.
Understanding the tradition and history of the place and the former pilgrims' hostel helps me to shape the future.
Mirko MocattiTraditional innovator and board member of the "Historic South Tyrol" cooperation
The Historic South Tyrol group unites accommodation establishments from small guesthouses to 4-star superior hotels. All establishments were awarded the distinction "Historic Inn of the Year". Membership is only open to those who convince the independent jury of architects, historians and tourism experts of the special architectural value of their establishment. As part of a community of lovers and ambassadors of timeless hospitality, the aim of the cooperation is to make the special attitude to life that animates the historic walls accessible and tangible for everyone who stays in the time-honoured houses. Together they preserve the treasures of old times and at the same time tell stories again and again.
Historic South Tyrol includes the first grand hotels that existed in the Alpine region, establishments that have been run by strong women for generations and inns whose walls have withstood several centuries.
Discovery holiday for nature lovers off the beaten track
In the first episode of our report on Deutschnonsberg, we described the natural beauty of this still little-known holiday region. In order to show what other attractions - of a cultural-historical, culinary and architectural nature - holidaymakers and day visitors can expect, we have portrayed the Hotel Gasthofs zum Hirschen in the second episode. Because this refuge is exemplary for tourist offers to holidaymakers who are looking for warm hospitality and active recreation in the great outdoors, off the beaten track. You are guaranteed to find what you are looking for in the quiet, secluded mountain region of the Deutschnonsberg.
Hotel Gasthof Zum Hirschen
Malgasottstraße 2
I-39010 Unsere lb. Frau im Walde - St. Felix . Südtirol Trentino
Phone: 0039 0463 886 105.
E-Mail: info@zumhirschen.com
On our information page on the Deutschnonsberg region - which will be posted soon - we offer additional information, for example on further accommodation, tips on events and links to relevant websites.
Text: Peter Grett
Images:
Lead story: Armin Terzer Photography
Image 1, historic picture: Georg Lösch
Images 2, 3, 4 in the slider:
Image Hotel over parking: Armin Terzer Photography
Hotel Querfront with entrance area: www.fotografielafogler.it
Perspective: Armin Terzer Photography
Image 5, Zimmer: www.renegamper.com
Image 6, Rezeption: Armin Terzer Photography
Image 7, 8, 9 in the slider:Zubereitung: www.renegamper.com
Plate with dandelion: Armin Terzer Photography
Plate with pasta: www.renegamper.com
Images 10, 11, 12 in the slider: Dining room: www.renegamper.com
Dining room corner: Armin Terzer Photography
Wine bar: Armin Terzer Photography
Images 13 and 14, Roatnockerhof: Peter Grett
Image 15, Widumhof: Armin Terzer Photography
Images 16 and 17, E-Bikes and E-Biker: www.renegamper.com
Image 18 and 19 Audi e-tron GT: Anett Tobies
Image 20, Mirko Mocatti: www.fotografielafogler.it