The History of HUBERTUS

"Do you have a table available in the old dining room on January 9 at 7 p.m.? You know, where we always used to sit!" That's what Moritz Keilholz asked me when he was standing at the front desk yesterday. "Because, you know, we have something special to celebrate!" "Moritz is turning 90!" his wife Inge added.

BACKGROUND:

In 1954, Moritz was on his honeymoon with his wife, Inge. They had been deciding between Inge’s favorite, Krün in Upper Bavaria—where Angela Merkel recently met with Barack Obama—and Balderschwang, which was Moritz’s idea. Fortunately, they ended up in Balderschwang.

Moritz drove up with his young wife, Inge, in a VW Beetle and stopped in front of the small inn, right where the road ended back then. He went inside, met my mother, and asked if she had a room available. She showed them Room Number 4. What Moritz and Inge didn’t know, however, was that Room Number 4 was actually my parents’ room. But my father and mother were determined to make the guests feel at home, so naturally they wanted them to have the best room. Back then, the room was heated by a small potbelly stove; it had a bathroom and a shared toilet on the same floor.

They must have liked it: Ever since their honeymoon, the “Keilhölzers”—that’s what we call the family—have been coming to stay with us regularly. Twice a year, we look forward to their visit here in Balderschwang: once in the summer, once in the winter. They always book the same rooms and always sit at the same table. Over the years, the two Keilhölzers have grown to eight. Even today, I still have the names of their children in my head, one after the other. We’ve spent many wonderful hours together. And because the extended family always enjoyed our food so much, Dad would slaughter two pigs every time before they arrived; we’d make sausages and prepare dozens of pairs of pork bratwurst. A “normal” guest would eat three sausages, but here at this table—with that particular appetite—it was always double that number—served on a bed of sauerkraut with mashed potatoes and spicy mustard. For dessert, there was either Kaiserschmarrn or blueberry pancakes.

So it’s already clear what we’ll be having for dinner on the evening of January 9. And Inge told me something else yesterday during our meeting—something that made me very happy: “You know, Karli, this valley has always fascinated me. There’s something special about this place—the air, the climate, the people. I could almost say: I fell in love with Balderschwang even faster than I did with my husband, Moritz.”

How wonderful it is when a love like that lasts a lifetime.