OWNER-MANAGER: Marina Meilinger
Haus Meilinger has always been very special for our family. I like to be there always, always. As a child, Haus Meilinger was more home to me than our home in Essen (Germany) because it was more comfortable. Obertauern was a much nicer area. Nearly all my good friends have come at least once to Haus Meilinger.
In the days before ski lifts...
when skiing was full day’s exploration across fresh, soft, deep snow: Marina Meilinger had a magical childhood growing up in an Obertauern playground with endless adventures - cross-country skiing, swimming in pristine mountain lakes and hiking in sunny alpine meadows up to summits. From a tender age she shared her father’s passion to build a beloved family holiday home in these mountains. That Franz Meilinger’s vision came true shows astonishing grit and determination. An Obertauern mountaineering pioneer, Franz grew up in poverty in Bischofshofen, 40km north-west of Obertauern, and went on to craft a remarkable lifetime legacy.A Simple Dream
For 20 years, Marina and Eva Meilinger’s parents wanted to own a little wooden hut in Obertauern. Franz, 20, and Gisela, 18, fell in love with this Salzburger Land in Austria, in 1938. They had their first child, Marina, in 1950. Obertauern was the Meilinger family’s special place for winter and summer holidays, from 1953.A clear solution...
came to Franz Meilinger the day he was told all the alpine huts in Obertauern were booked out. It was time to build his own place here. He reassured his wife he would find the money, somehow. Never could they have imagined how their dream would become a cherished heritage for their descendants and travellers from all around the world.Marina has enjoyed inheriting all the responsibilities of Haus Meilinger, running it as her adored guest house and overseeing its expansion. As she and Eva have had their Meilinger family grow, the three deluxe apartments were renovated and extended in 2006. The original house, which makes up part of Apartment One, had two bedrooms, a garage and a heating system room - with the idea that it could one day be a sauna; as it is, indeed, today.
Initially, upstairs had the master bedroom, a bathroom, a small loungeroom, a small kitchen – which today is the entry hall - and a balcony to enjoy the 360-degree views of the alps. Directly underneath the loungeroom’s showcase Panorama window was a sign bearing the home’s original name: Haus Gisela.
Before Haus Meilinger…
the Meilinger family would stay in the Austrian Alpine Club Alpenverein huts - such as Seekarhaus or Vindobona - which, in that era, were very basic. No radios or telephones. Guests would get a bed, water with lemon and syrup and one evening meal around a warm, cosy fire. Perhaps someone would start strumming a guitar or visitors might read a book.Every Christmas…
and every Easter, the Meilinger family – with young Marina and her sister Eva – would create skiing adventures around Obertauern. The family used their skis to prepare a little piste (a slope for skiing) where the parents first taught their daughters to ski on a little hill near the old Seekarhaus Alpenverein hut.A day’s activity…
would typically be to hike with furs on their skis to the top of Seekareck peak – a climb of more than 400m in altitude through deep, soft snow. It was a challenging ski back to their hut, especially when Marina was only six-years-old: Finding their own paths, being careful to avoid hazards such as holes and getting home before sundown, in time for dinner.First ski courses…
opened in Obertauern, without any machinery to assist in the sport. The ski instructor would line the students up at the base of a hill, ski-to-ski, and on command move them all together, step-by-step, up the hill to prepare the piste: That would be their lesson area for the day.“If there was high snow, we were very tired by the end of preparing the slope – you did not necessarily ski to get tired,” Marina says, smiling at the memory.
A proud mountaineer…
Franz Meilinger believed in traditional skiing in its purest form. When ski lifts were built, he refused to use them. In his mind, lifts were not necessary when he could walk.Land was bought...
for Haus Meilinger, and plans drawn up to start construction. The family continued holidays in Obertauern, eagerly anticipating the future. Marina was shovelling deep snow with her father, from outside their booked accommodation, when he mused how nice it would be once they could start snow-shovelling chores from their very own holiday home. “I said to him ‘Yes!! That would be nice!’ And I appreciated this idea.” Marina says, laughing.Haus Meilinger Est. 1964
“In the first place, we were very proud because it was very special,” Marina says. “Not many people had a vacation house like we had, so my mother really didn’t tell anyone about it, or if she did, she’d say ‘oh we have a little hut’.” In early adulthood, Marina and Eva became ski instructors.The Meilinger family…
continues to grow, loving big family gatherings for special occasions and sharing their apartments with guests and friends from around the world. New generations are reaping the benefits of that fateful day when a bold Meilinger mountaineer had his family turned away from Obertauern’s overflowing Alpenverein huts and vowed to build a home, a legacy, of his own.
A NEW GENERATION - with Philip Meilinger
Haus Meilinger has always been for us a place of good energy, hospitality, familiarity, of warmth, cosiness and Christmas festivities. So, for us, it’s been the greatest place in the world. My grandfather who built Haus Meilinger - Franz Meilinger, we called him Deda – was a part of all those early Christmas traditions: Decorating the fir tree - which we would cut fresh - a crackling fire and great food and drinks. Marina would lead off the singing of carols.
My grandfather...
was a very impressive person with a resilient, pioneering spirit. He had a really strong, tough, pragmatic character that when faced with brutal hardships was willing to take drastic, bold risks that paid off.Marina...
has also been very clever and intelligent to have the foresight - well before anyone else in the family - to see the advantages of extending the family holiday home into comfortable apartments, in 2006. Now Haus Meilinger both accommodates the growing family and welcomes people from all over the world. The apartments are well organised and always clean and practical, ready to use. Marina did really well in choosing the style of the apartments by using lots of larch wood in the construction, so it still has all the warmth and comfort of a family home.The design with high ceilings is also really impressive: It makes great use of the stunning views, which can be seen from every apartment. It’s just amazing to have views of the Obertauern skiing area, looking across the slopes. I always enjoy it when there is fresh snow and you look out and see all the mountains glistening white. When we go to breakfast and have that direct view of the mountains, there nothing else I can think about but going skiing.
Haus Meilinger is a family tradition to the extent it is really a second home. We’ve been there nearly every year, about four times a year, for 40 years. These days we are raising our own families: We have plenty of room to go on holidays at the apartments – in both summer and winter – to share the Haus Meilinger experience together; With our families, friends and guests from around the world.