Three generations

From a small coffee house to an important tourist business

The terrace hotel offers a direct view of Lake Klopein and has 50 rooms.(Bild: Evelyn Hronek)

Tilly Reichmann was a legend in St. Kanzian: 75 years ago, she opened a tiny coffee house in an old hut in Seelach. Today it is run by the third generation.

Back then, my mother bought an old wooden hut from the soldiers and built it up in the heart of Seelach," says her son Werner Reichmann. Tilly had inherited the former swamp meadow: "It had always been her dream to open a coffee house." In 1949, the time had finally come: "The wooden hut was bought and paid for in two installments after the season." It was only years later that Café Reichmann was expanded and modernized with the first money earned. Tilly has managed one of the largest catering businesses on Lake Klopein for decades.

She grew up in the seasonal businesses
The lady was loved and a little feared by everyone: "My mother was always straight-talking, honest and hard-working," says her son, who joined the business at the age of 24. Back then, Tilly would collect the berries from the forest early in the morning and then process them. The 60-year-old: "I practically grew up in a coffee house, guesthouse and hotel. Even back then, we made our own pastries and ice cream. That's still the case today."

The Reichmann family is now in its third generation, as Reichmann's sons Werner (34) and Mattias (30) are also hard at work in the company. Since the mid-sixties, the family has also been running a bed and breakfast and, since 1978, the Terrassenhotel, which has been modernized and expanded. Mattias: "We grew up here too, we learned it from the ground up."

(Bild: Evelyn Hronek)

The first hut was built in 1949 by Tilly Reichmann.(Bild: Evelyn Hronek)

She had bought it from soldiers after the war. A few years later, it was extended for the first time.(Bild: Evelyn Hronek)

The Reichmann trio (from left): Werner junior (34), entrepreneur father Werner (60) and brother Mattias (30). The coveted ice cream and cakes have been produced in-house for decades.(Bild: Evelyn Hronek)

Café Reichmann has now been in business for 75 years in the heart of Seelach.(Bild: Evelyn Hronek)

The brothers have divided up the business, which employs 50 people in the high season. Business economist Werner manages the hotel, while Mattias runs Café Reichmann. "It is a matter close to our hearts to lead the businesses successfully into the future."