The History of the “Traube” - Your Romantic Hotel in the Alps
The Traube, since 1860 in possession and managed by the Vergeiner family of wine merchants, was the “coffee residence” of Queen Wilhelmine of Holland, a meeting place for the citizens of Lienz, the holiday seat of prominent personalities who are tired of the paparazzi, and the home of East Tyrolean associations.
It was the scene of great weddings, lavish balls and jolly meetings for morning drinks: it has witnessed wild cattle trading, as equally as a romantic retreat for loving honeymooners. This mixture has made the Traube so famous and coveted as a resting place for travellers from the north to the south, from east to west. And those who were once here came again, to holiday in lovely East Tyrol, or extend it by a couple of days. Such as the famous fisherman, drinker and writer who uttered the following words...
“Nowhere else do the fish swim in such good wine as at the Traube!”
With which by body and soul, by kitchen and cellar, we have arrived at this point. Famous chefs have decorated this hotel with distinctions of toques, stars and spoons. The Vergeiners’ greatest ambition is above all to serve a crispy roast pork, a fluffy apricot dumpling, and the most tender boiled beef, in a word: to serve regional cuisine at the highest level.
The only thing that the Traube does not have is a sommelier because the boss assumes this task personally. And thus one has one of the most competent wine authorities in Austria as a personal adviser. His nose never stops roaming to find new rarities: into the cellars of Tuscany, to tastings in California, meetings with oenologists in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, France, and, naturally, among our Austrian vintners. Wine has always been and still is the passion of the family. At latest when studying the “wine book” with the menu will one be aware why the Traube is thus named, and why the wine merchant’s hotel really is somewhat different to a hotel with merely a good restaurant and good wine (nevertheless the Traube is also famous for its goulash and beer).
