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History

Beauty for over a century - the Knappenhof and its history

At 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.

Der Wasserleitungsweg im Höllental © Wiener Alpen/www.eva-gruber.com

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.

Detailaufnahme der Tastatur einer alten mechanischen Schreibmaschine
Historische Briefe und Fotos
Sonnenuntergang mit Blick auf den Semmering © Wiener Alpen/Christian Kremsl

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.

Der Wasserleitungsweg im Höllental © Wiener Alpen/www.eva-gruber.comDetailaufnahme der Tastatur einer alten mechanischen SchreibmaschineHistorische Briefe und FotosSonnenuntergang mit Blick auf den Semmering © Wiener Alpen/Christian Kremsl

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.

Schneeberg, Wiener Alpen | © Niederösterreich Werbung/ Andreas Jakwerth