The Rössle - the oldest Inn in Galtür
There is no way of knowing with any certainty just how old Gasthaus Rössle really is, though a tax office assessment mentions a construction date of 1600. The fact remains, however, that it is the oldest inn in Galtür. An old family register refers to a Franz Josef Salner as the landlord of the Rössle. In the mid-19th century ownership of the Rössle passed into the hands of Alois Lenz, who was also a teacher and mayor of Galtür from 1857 to 1872. His sons Rudolf Lenz, a professor of theology, and Johann Augustin Lenz, a government advisor, both entered the annals of history. Johann ‘Staner’ Mattle was the landlord of the Rössle from 1874 to 1900. Furthermore, he was also the landlord of the “Zeinis” Alpine hut and provisioner of the mountain refuges. His grandson, the Rev. Oskar Mattle, was known as the Tratzberg castle chaplain. The death of Johann Michael Mattle in 1905 ushered in the Türtscher era.
For it was at this time that the Rössle was bought by Emerenzia Walter, a “daughter of Fanzl”, a rich farmer from Wirl. She married Franz Anton Türtscher, who owned the Zeinis and hailed from Sonntag in the Grosses Walsertal. Apparently, the couple had only seen each other on three occasions before plighting their troth: the first was when they met, the second was to arrange the wedding and the third was in front of the altar... Emerenzia was to prove a highly respected, affable and popular landlady. The couple had four children, of whom Franz Jr. would later take over the Rössle ...
Eventually, in 1927/28, the inn underwent what was for the times a huge conversion into a hotel with 40 rooms and 60 beds. Despite all the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit, however, the imposition of the 1,000 Mark export restriction for travellers from Germany to Austria also brought the Rössle to the verge of ruin which was only staved off at the last minute through the freight operations of the Illwerke hydroelectric plants. Financially, the Rössle managed to get through the war years by acting as an evacuation refuge for children and their schools from the industrial areas in Greater Germany: the schools had plenty of food and other goods. In the post-war years, most of the business was derived from the many workers at the Illwerke who were lodged at the Rössle. Gradually, this source of revenue was replaced by the growing numbers of tourists arriving in the region.
Franz Anton and Emerenzia Türtscher handed over the Rössle to their son Franzl in 1926. In addition to being a successful landlord and hotel manager, he was also regarded as a road-building pioneer in the Paznaun and an initiator of motor traffic. With his wife Berta at his side, herself a hard-working landlady known far and wide who bore him 10 children, Franzl oversaw a series of legendary conversions and extensions to the hotel. He was tragically killed in a car accident in 1963 while taking an injured person to hospital. For the Rössle, his untimely death caused a brief interregnum. Finally, his son Adolf and daughter-in-law Monika took over the establishment. Under their stewardship, the Rössle remained the cornerstone of social life in the village ...
In 1986 management of the Rössle was entrusted to their son Reinhard and his wife Brigitte. Both proved to be more than equal to the task. The Rössle was never at a standstill: it always kept everyone busy, working together to produce highly successful results, and the pace of that little stallion, the Rössle, has been carefully studied by each generation from their childhood days. Which is why Martin und Susanne, who now represent the fifth generation of the Türtschers, are fully capable of taking up the reins of management.
