Our own organic and biologic farm

• Offers Beef from our own guaranteed organically and biologically controlled farm
  
  
• Offers food without growth stimulants, chemically synthetic fertilizers, storage preservers or pesticides.
  
  
• Has animal feed that is exclusively home grown, biological fodder.
  
  
• Raise calves that have 10 months of mother fed milk, year-round freedom of movement, six months meadow grazing, of which three months are in the high alpine meadows.
  
  
• Can contribute through the farm’s production methods our part to the preservation of a livable environment with healthy soil, clear water and fresh air.
  
  

New Life in the Alps
Initiatives, Models and Projects of Bio-agriculture
Text excerpts from the above named book by Hans Haid; Publisher Böhlau

Hotel Madrisa in Gargellen:

I willingly admit that this hotel is truly one of the most beautiful historical mountain hotels in the Alps. Bertram Rhomberg the owner, told me about it while at a conference in Montafon, showing me pictures of the hotel and choices from the restaurant’s menu.

I became curious and went to see for myself. The hotel’s brochure did in fact hold true to its promises.

The “old” part of the hotel built just after 1900, is a good example of typical building style for the new tourism architecture of that time. This hotel, “one of the richest in tradition of the alpine hotels” was built in 1904 and remains since (almost) unchanged. Much later, the new building was extended alongside the old one in the typical style of the usual architecture. The old building, made of elegant wood and solid, cultural décor, as well as partially done in magnificent art nouveau style, is truly something to behold.

Bertram Rhomberg took over the hotel from his father, who took it over from his father, who was an old established textile manufacturer. It was the notion of this culturally open-minded man, to bring the luxury of an elegant mountain hotel to this area. Through the current owner, the existing farm had been reactivated and is continually enlarged and improved upon. There have been more alpine farming pastures (“Maiensässen”) purchased and expanded, and they have been adapted according to the criteria of the ERNTE- association. All food produced out of their own bio-farm goes to their own hotel establishment and is then accordingly offered. This is reflected on the restaurant’s menu. Only when home grown products do not suffice will additional supplies be bought, since few store bought goods are still strictly biological grown.

More than 25% of all guests in winter are from England and of those, mostly are patrons of year long frequency. To lodge in the quaint, ambience of the old building is an exclusive fineness for even the noblest guests.

Mr. Rhomberg has chosen for his farm the Tyrolean “Grauvieh”. He mostly buys the animals at markets in Tyrol, especially in Imst, and has a high opinion of this particular stock of cattle, which for a number of years has been referred to in numerous headlines as “The Bio-Beef of the Alps”, for which the cattle are particularly well suited for.

Recently, there appeared in a German magazine an exceedingly favorable article over this hotel in Gargellen. Mr. Rhomberg was quite happy about it. I can imagine that this hotel will someday be included in the selected circle of bio-hotels.