History
Beauty for over a century - the Knappenhof and its historyAt the turn of the century the Rax mountain region was a bit like St Moritz in the Eastern Alps. Arthur Schnitzler wrote Leutnant Gustl here and fell in love with a hostess; Sigmund Freud met patients while climbing mountains; Alma Mahler had fun with Oskar Kokoschka, Franz Werfel and Walter Gropius. Many grand villas were built at this time, one of them, and a particularly beautiful one, is the Knappenhof.

A house with history
The King of the Rax and his Villa. Built by someone who loved the surroundings, for others who feel the same way. Welcome to the Knappenhof.



The Knappenhof
It was built by the man who was, for the large part, responsible for all the fuss about (and on!) the Rax: Camillo Kronich, the long-time proprietor of the Ottohaus, who pioneered the rental of skis to day-trippers, was a passionate mountain photographer, and was crowned ‘The Rax King’ by his contemporaries.
While others were building huge hotels on the Semmering like the Sudbahnhotel or the Panhans, Kronich opened up something resembling today's boutique hotels at the foot of his beloved mountain: the Knappenhof. A villa built by somebody who loved the surrounding landscape, for others who feel the same way.
Today, more than 100 years later, we want to continue this tradition.