The Goldener Berg in Arlberg

Stories about stories

We have been welcoming people from all over the world to the Goldener Berg for decades. Many different faces, with many different tales to tell. And of course, we also have our own:

The history of the Goldener Berg is a long, emotional one with highs and lows...
The building itself was first documented in 1430 (standing on exactly the same spot where the Goldener Berg stands today) and was at that time a simple mountain farm. Simplicity and a frugal life left their mark.
And yet the building underwent various changes and improvements.
until in 1926 when a certain Herr Leopold Schneider sold the “Obere Bergalpe” to the “Hohe Welt” association. This was a group comprising mainly former K&K army officers.
In 1928 the building was auctioned by the Hammerbacher family.
At that time it consisted merely of an open smokehouse kitchen, a very small living room, 3 bedrooms, a huge hay barn, another barn, 2 hectares of land and a spring.
In the 1930s the hotel was built and the “Sportheim Goldener Berg” was able to welcome keen skiers as guests.
It was the first building in the Arlberg region with running water in every room. In the present changes we are making, we exposed some of the walls from that time. Getting provisions proved difficult and going down to Lech every day was a real challenge.
The first “cellar bar” was set up in the sound-proofed vegetable cellar of the new building and became very popular as a “Skihölle”.
Flight pioneers from the “Himmelsschreiber”, a famous group of pilots at the time who wrote advertising slogans for Ata and Persil in the sky, frequented the Goldener Berg.
Hammerbacher travelled throughout Europe, banging the advertising drum, even bringing ski clubs from Great Britain and the Netherlands to Arlberg too.
1945 marks the low point: The Goldener Berg is sequestered to the German Reich.
After the Second World War, the Hammerbacher family then refused the Marshall plan money, in contrast to other competing businesses in Lech.
In 1959 the release of the sequester means it’s possible to acquire new credit
The “Sporthotel Lech” increases its number of beds and enlarges its dining room. The hotel welcomes its guests in full splendour at Christmas time, 1960. However, further building projects await, and the financial hurdles become too great...
In 1965 the Hammerbacher family sells the hotel to the Pfefferkorn family, long-time residents of Lech.
Thanks to lots of hard work and investment, it was possible to recover from the arrears of the war years. The 50th anniversary in autumn 1978 was celebrated with a suitably large party.
Johann’s eldest son, Günter Pfefferkorn, runs the Goldener Berg between 1965 and 1968 together with his friend Günter Rochelt, head chef at that time.
When Franz Pfefferkorn finishes his education at the Hotelfachschule at the tender age of 20, he takes over the running of the Goldener Berg in Oberlech.
In 1969, Gucky Pfefferkorn together with their daughter Claudia, comes to the Goldener Berg. Together they provide the skills behind the hotel for 30 years.
1980: large extension, heralding the very necessary upturn. 1992: complete refurbishment of the 1930 hotel. 1997: Lovingly carried out refurbishment of the Alter Goldener Berg. The restaurant received its first Gault Millau accolade.
The Goldener Berg was a founding member of the 1st Club de la Somellerie in Austria and a brilliant wine cellar was established
that has continued to grow to the present day. Both have done wonders for the Goldener Berg, Oberlech and Lech, but also for the Austrian hotel industry as a whole: amongst other things, a founding member of HOGAST, member of the ÖHV and much more besides
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