We are sitting in the large guest lounge with a view of the (still) snow-covered Koralpe. Elisabeth Lichtenegger strokes her three-year-old daughter's hair and feels transported back to the carefree days of her own childhood on the farm. When she began to be fascinated by this special way of life with the animals and in harmony with nature at an early age, when the guests' children became trusted playmates from an early age: "I always knew that I wanted to continue doing this. This is the place where I want to live and work," she says. Nothing has changed to this day.
"Please don't become a brother!"
Even though "becoming a baker" and "looking after guests" were initially anything but a "gmahte Wies`n". It was only when her second sister was born and there was no male heir to follow that nothing stood in the way of her dream. And so her career and vocation took their course. After graduating from high school in Pitzelstätten and gaining her diploma in Ober St. Veit, Elisabeth returned to the farm. With her husband Bernhard and children Klara and Fabian, the third generation is now continuing the legacy at the Jurihof and preparing to hand over the farm.
Together with her mother Barbara, the daughter looks after the guests on the farm and especially their children. Riding lessons with "Lizzy" are one of the special attractions on offer, as are visits to the stables and the petting zoo with mini pigs, pygmy goats, cats and rabbits.
"If you talk about it sensitively, children can deal with it well"
The almost daily excursion to the two trout ponds also makes hearts beat faster in the truest sense of the word. This is where guests young and old gain their first experience of fishing. This includes not only learning the art of fishing, but also understanding that life and death are also a natural process in the animal cycle. "If you talk about it openly and sensitively, children can deal with it well," Elisabeth knows from experience with her own offspring. And everyone later enjoys the trout prepared by their mother according to her own recipe.
To immerse herself in the rural world with her guests, the young passionate baker also likes to take up the message lived by her parents and grandparents: treating animals and nature with respect. The same applies to her dealings with the host families: "Accept them as they are and don't pretend to be anything but remain genuine and authentic."
The latter also applies to the handling of the farm handover within the family, always according to the motto: pull together and allow for conflict. Elisabeth Lichtenegger: "Everyone has their own spaces and retreats. You're allowed to go crazy once in a while, but then you sit down together and look for a solution." Postscript: "Crises always bring new opportunities."
Elisabeth's father continues to manage the agricultural business. Together with son-in-law Bernhard, who works full-time as a mechanical engineer at Geislinger, the world market leader for innovative drivetrain solutions. On the farm, he, the farmer's son from the immediate neighborhood, has contributed his know-how to the implementation of innovations on the farm, for example in feeding technology and in the expansion of the farm's self-sufficient energy supply. This now includes a photovoltaic system, charging stations for electric cars and an ecological heating system. In the year-round accommodation business, mother and daughter, as managing directors, ensure the well-being of guests and constantly improve quality, most recently by installing infrared cabins in the vacation apartments.
Michael Sabath
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