A special feature of the Austrian tourism industry is that the majority of Austrian businesses are family run – there is the senior manager and the senior manageress and the junior generation with the junior manager and the junior manageress. They all have their place and their function.

Each of them is an important cogwheel that keeps the business running, contributing to the company’s success with their own talents and strengths. And in this interplay of generations, the next generation grows up and learns from the very beginning what it means to be part of a family business. In our 75-year school history, we have been able to train several generations of host families and provide them with the theoretical foundation, which they have then successfully applied after one or two internships in the family business and continue to do so. In this issue, we bring the Sattler family from the Sattlerhof in Gamlitz before the curtain:

Everything has an origin.  Those who never forget where they come from, in everything they do will be able to grow high and wide. Wilhelm Sattler Senior understood this when he began producing natural wines for the first time in 1966, i.e. without any residual sugar, enhancement or acidification. Wines whose character reflected their origin.

And even though he was initially ridiculed in many places for this new way of making wine, he did not let himself be put off. Time and constant change were to be on his side.

The Ried Pfarrweingarten was already recorded on historical maps 300 years ago. When the opportunity arose for Wilhelm Sattler Senior to take it over from the Gamlitz vicar, he seized the moment. He began to recultivate it in order to create the basis for one of the best Styrian vineyards. In 1977, the vines reached an age where they could be labelled “Wachstum Pfarrweingarten”.

In 1990 Hannes Sattler, whose heart beat for cooking, made his dream come true and opened a small, fine restaurant at the vineyard, built with his own hands and the help of his father Wilhelm Senior and his brothers Thomas and Willi.

They say excellence always lives close to great passion. For this reason, the Sattlerhof was awarded its first toque by Gault Millau within a year, making the small, fine restaurant the first toque-awarded restaurant in Styria.

And because you should sleep where you eat well, in 1991 the Sattlers decided to build a hotel for their guests, some of whom travelled from far and wide. The original idea and the conceptual realisation was, as with all previous company projects, entirely in the hands of the family. The vision was: small, stylish and beautiful.

In 1994, the hotel was extended with a pool and sauna, incidentally the first hotel in southern Styria to have its own swimming pool at the time.

In 2000, the cosy country house was opened with its spacious rooms and suites, including a dream view of the South Styrian vineyards, of course. In the same year, Hannes Sattler’s small award-winning restaurant was complemented by a sister establishment, the Wirtshaus, whose great popularity continues unabated to this day. The aim was to expand the culinary offering to include good, regional and down-to-earth daily specials.

Regionality and originality that you can taste were already the driving force for Wilhelm Sattler Senior to produce his wine in his own way. In 2015, this idea was expanded to include a further dimension – namely the in-house vegetable garden. Under the motto – your side dish grows here – a greenhouse and raised beds were created, and the output is something worth presenting, namely on the plates of the guests.

In 2019, the efforts of the Sattlerhof team and the family’s vision of sustainable development as well as their passion for the highest quality were rewarded with 3 toques in Gault Millau.

Over the years, the Sattler family has grown, and after years of learning, Hannes and Willi Sattler’s children have largely taken over.

Markus Sattler, a TSBG graduate, is responsible for the entire kitchen area, hygiene, ordering and bookkeeping.

His sister Anna Sattler is also a TSBG graduate. Her domain is the service area. But Anna is not only the first hostess, she also oversees reception, housekeeping, marketing, HR and event coordination.

The two are supported by Anna’s fiancé Thomas Ferrand, who originally comes from France and is a sommelier with heart and soul, as well as Janja, Markus Sattler’s partner, who is the pub manager.

Dad Hannes Sattler has largely withdrawn from the operational side of things and takes care of organisational matters, the budget and the latest building project at the Sattlerhof. Hannes Sattler has actively supported the tourism schools in the Parents’ Association and was TSBG Parents’ Association Chairman from 2012 to 2016.

Willi Sattler, uncle of Anna and Markus, has retired from the wine cellar and vineyard, his wife Maria runs the office. Their sons Alexander and Andreas and his wife Juste manage the winery’s fortunes in the cellar, sales, marketing and vineyard.

The family continues to strive for improvement and have a passion for what they do and create and will continue to provide good and fine food from the Sattler family, both now and in the generations to come.

Anna Sattler, HLT 2014: For me, it was the best time of my life – the friendships I made there are still going strong.

The school also opened doors for me all over the world.

And yes, the many long evenings in the cinema café feel like they were yesterday.

Markus Sattler, HLT 2016: Long live the Kinocafe. An unforgettable, fun time at the boarding school and the school.