"We work a lot in the countryside, in the fields and in the stables. In the evening, when our animals are looked after and the work is done, we have time to answer your inquiries in peace", reads the refreshingly honest text on the Malerhof's homepage on the World Wide Web. This statement aptly describes the farm's guest service philosophy, because here everything happens in its own time, no stress, no hectic pace. Thumbs up.
"I can't make myself a slave to the computer."
The focus at the Malerhof is clearly on looking after vacationers on site. So when they are there, the Scheibers play to their strengths. Helga in particular certainly can't deny that she wouldn't like the role of hostess. She likes to talk a lot, but also has a lot to say. She is a pleasure to listen to. And as we sit in the 350-year-old Troadkasten (one of the four vacation apartments), I can well imagine her guests doing the same, perhaps accompanied by an afternoon snack made from the farm's own products such as yogurt, jam, sausage and home-made bacon. "Renting is my life", and no one who has ever spent more than a few hours on the Scheibers' farm doubts this. For the proud farmer's wife, dealing with guests is mutually beneficial, a lifelong learning experience through encounters.
Helga spent her childhood not far from here on a "hobby farm", as she calls her parents' farm today. Her mother had a cow and a calf, her grandparents had goats. More formative, however, were the first points of contact with guests and the social effects that were noticeable for farm children in the high season. "We had to sleep in the cellar or in the barn. What madness! That would be completely unthinkable for our boys today," Helga ventures a look back and it seems to be a fortunate circumstance that she still decided to become a hostess. Probably also because she knew that there needed to be a healthy separation between private life and the vacation apartments. And this is a given at the Malerhof, so closeness is possible, but it doesn't always have to be.
"Girls like riding, boys have more of an eye for John Deere & Co."
It has been rented out since 1996, so for half an eternity. Although the "picturesque" farm is located in the center of the village, the property with its beautiful old fruit trees and a shady wall pear, which is said to be a good 150 years old, offers a hectare of garden all around. Who has that? Plenty of space and an area for children to run around. Should it be wet and unfriendly in the sun-drenched Gailtal valley, Helga unpacks her handicraft tricks and entertains the guests' children or bakes bread rolls with them. Otherwise, there are barbecue evenings and an excursion to the farm pigs, which are allowed to graze on the mountain pastures. All the outdoor fun takes place in summer, of course. In the cold and white season, there are numerous kilometers of slopes at Nassfeld, which can be reached directly and comfortably by ski bus from the farm. The clientele is internationally diverse, with Central European countries of origin dominating in winter. Canadians, Australians and Americans have already signed the Malerhof's guest books and tried out the 500-year-old farmhouse parlor. A beautiful contribution to the world in the village.
"Just farming was always too little for me"
Helga Scheiber was an education officer in the district of Hermagor for 23 years and, as a self-confident spokesperson, also represented the concerns of her sisters in spirit. As I said, nomen est omen. She visited the Schloss Krastowitz education center in Klagenfurt several times to quench her thirst for knowledge. As a seminar farmer, her mission from then on was to spread knowledge about bread, fish, vegetables and fruit throughout the country. In the villages and inns or in schools and kindergartens. In any case, always with a very personal touch. The Scheibers already earn more from tourist rentals than from traditional farming. And in around two years' time, Helga thinks it will be time to hand over the farm to the next generation, because then she would like to take things a little easier and is already looking forward to seeing how her son, his partner and little Julian set the course for the future of the Malerhof.
Stefan Heinisch
contentkumpanei.com, 34 Article(s)
