The history of the Hotel Mirabell Alpine Garden Resort & Spa in Siusi allo Sciliar

A historic Dolomite residence with a long tradition that still preserves the charm of times gone by.

Siusi allo Sciliar developed into a renowned summer retreat in the Dolomites following the opening of the Brenner railway in 1867 and the subsequent construction of the road in 1887. The village owes its special appeal to its favourable climate, striking location at the foot of the Sciliar and the elegant villas built by wealthy Bolzano citizens as summer residences. It was only later that mountain tourism around Siusi allo Sciliar, the Sciliar area and Alpe di Siusi became increasingly important. Mr Honeck from the Merano area made a major contribution to the development of hospitality in Siusi allo Sciliar: during the summer months, when the hotels in Merano were out of season, he moved furniture and staff to Siusi, giving a decisive boost to the summer season.
Royalty, artists, writers and many other distinguished personalities spent their holidays in Siusi allo Sciliar, giving the village a cosmopolitan and international flair. Prominent guests included King Frederick Augustus of Saxony and his family, the writer Sigurd Ibsen, the actor and playwright Bjørn Bjørnson, the pianist Friedmann, the Duke of Aosta, the conductor Arturo Toscanini and the painters Leo Putz and Willy Valier. The guest lists of the last century also feature numerous Russian personalities. These elite visitors had a lasting influence on Siusi allo Sciliar, its historic architecture, and its tourism development.

The Hotel Mirabell Alpine Garden Resort & Spa in Siusi allo Sciliar was once the summer residence of Russian Count Aleksej Bobrinskij, the last ambassador to the Tsar at the Imperial Court in Vienna.

A brief journey through time…

1907 The explorer and ethnographer Count Aleksej Alekseevič Bobrinskij came to Siusi with his wife Elisa Aleksandrovna Peterson, who was suffering from tuberculosis, hoping that the healthy mountain air could cure her.

1908 The hotelier Michael Honeck sold the Count a detached property with a small, old farm called Aichstaud on the edge of the Laranza forest.

1909 Bobrinskij had the villa Aichstaud built by the renowned architect Marius Amonn, and after the Russian Revolution chose it as a home for himself and his wife. The villa was furnished in a state-of-the-art manner and decorated with numerous valuables, furniture, works of art and books that the Count brought back from his travels.

1914 The couple decided to return to Russia, where Elisa Peterson died a year later. During the war, the housekeeper Elmira Wehn stayed in Siusi and looked after the house and garden.

1918-1920 In the early summer of 1918, the highly educated Aleksej Bobrinskij was forced to leave his home. He returned to Siusi with his now second wife, resumed his scientific work, and took great care of his garden and roses. During this time, the villa became a meeting place for Russian aristocrats, artists and scientists. Among the guests were Counts Šeremetev, Fersen, Volkonskij, Jusupov, Galicyn and Širkov.

1921 Due to the economic crisis and inflation, the Count could no longer maintain his lifestyle and converted the villa into a boarding house with rooms for 12 guests.

1936 Bobrinskij sold the boarding house to Josef Pattis and Maria Gasser, the grandparents of the present owner. The Count moved to a small house in the village, where he died two years later.

1938 Josef Pattis extended the villa by adding the long wing, which still exists.

1939-1945 During the Second World War the house remained closed.

1946 The Hotel Mirabell reopened, and in the years that followed various celebrities stayed at the house: Sir Rudolf Bing, film actors Marcello Mastroianni and Armando Francioli, actress Hannerl Matz, opera singers Moll and Güden, Monika Mann (daughter of the writer Thomas Mann).

1960 Zita Pattis and her husband Oscar Egger took over the Hotel Mirabell. Oscar Egger and his son Alexander were dedicated to preserving the Bobrinskij legacy.

1974-2011 The Mirabell Alpine Garden Resort & Spa, which had been rebuilt and expanded in the meantime, was now run by Zita's and Oscar's son, Alexander Egger and his wife Margit.

Since 2012 Their two daughters Marion and Jessica are the fourth generation to run the Hotel Mirabell. They too are keen to preserve the history of the hotel, so in addition to modern furnishings there are still many original pictures, pieces of furniture and valuable inlays that are reminiscent of the times when the Russian nobility lived here and add to the charm of the hotel.