Icelandic horse home on the Keltenberg

Mom is the most important person on the farm

Birgit bangs a grateful statement across the wooden table at Köck's riding stables to start the conversation. A very clear understanding of roles promotes interpersonal family harmony. The impressively quoted "mom" takes care of the guests and the rental, Birgit takes care of the riding business and her husband Florian directs the machines and lends a hand where his strength is needed. Today, four generations live together in harmony on one of the most beautiful places in Carinthia. I just have to say that. By the way, Grandma Frieda is an honorable 93 years old. Chapeau! It must be the climate up here that the grapes also seem to like.

A place of power with a lake view

On closer inspection, I realize that the Pollenitz is certainly a powerful tribute to nature in the Southern Alps. A certain Mr. Christian Mikunda (note: theater dramaturge and creator of appealing international brand worlds) even coined the term Garden of Eden for Austria's southernmost province. Confronted with this again and again, I simply didn't want to believe it. Such arrogance, I thought. An outrageously superficial arbitrariness of an outsider to lay such perfection like a veil of virginal innocence over a patch of mountain-lake landscape. He did it anyway. And yet he is right. Maybe you just have to stand up here yourself, sit, ride, lie down, in the best case spend the night - even better - and let the farm's own Chardonnay and/or Zweigelt glide over a palate dulled by everyday worries. That's right. But then please also let your gaze wander over nearby Lake Ossiach, without a destination, just because it feels good and the lake is so beautiful. At the foot of the Pollenitz, the open field. An inconspicuous mountain ridge and still an insider tip for tourists. Crowds of tourists have no place up here.

Horses that radiate calm

Birgit now looks after 55 Icelandic horses. 35 of them are school horses. The graduate of the University of Teacher Education in Salzburg reflects on her up to 16-hour working days with complete imperturbability. That's how much she is on her feet in the high season. So May to September. Non-stop without complaining. "I grew up like this, it's completely normal," she says, describing what would make some other professionals shiver with unease just thinking about it. They all seem to be well grounded here. And if the little vacation guests don't always want to feel the satisfaction right away, there is also a large playground with a carousel, slide and trampoline, a petting zoo with dwarf goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, sheep, cats and tortoises. Summarized: A place of strength and play, an oasis of activity for kids. Dear parents, can you decipher this message?

Birgit's brother, the part-time certified winemaker

Gerhard Köck uses the sheltered, fog-free location to grow Rösler, Zweigelt, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. What happens on the side consistently achieves national recognition. Numerous awards testify to the brother's skill in mountain viticulture on just over one hectare of land in central Carinthia.

Four generations of farming family cohesion, Icelandic horse home and award-winning wine-growing region. And all this in the bosom of Celtic civilization. Sure, you can plant hotels, spas and chalet villages on the evergreen meadow. On a mountainside. In a bay. On the Adriatic. Wherever your real estate skills take you. With sufficient capital, the last beautiful, untouched places between Alaska and New Zealand could be developed for tourism. But the Pollenitz will remain as it is. Guaranteed. Because it has always been there. Proud mountain ridge, please continue to be a good home for many more generations of farmers, horse enthusiasts and vacationers who appreciate you and are always looking for the ultra-local. Unfortunately, everyone else often only perceives Carinthia as a transit country on their car navigation system. On the way south. Summer traffic jams usually included. Those fools.