About Contact
view all hotels
The Hirschen at dusk on the village square in Schwarzenberg, Bregenzerwald, its lit timber façade below the Vorarlberg peaks.

The Good-Life Curator

Hirschen

contact return to top
enquire now enquire now
The Hirschen, 'Young since 1755,' blends heritage, wellness, art, and culture into a stylish retreat. A cosy haven for modern nomads craving roots, history, and unforgettable vibes.

Intro

Cured timber the colour of dark honey, window boxes heavy with geraniums, a painted façade facing a medieval church across the village square: at first glance the Hirschen looks exactly like the Alpine inn it has been since 1755. Step through the front door and the century count starts to blur. Floors tilt gently underfoot, ceiling frescoes soften into eggshell and wheat, and a martini arrives cold enough to suggest the mountains outside might just be a very good set. This is the particular trick of the Hirschen Fine Hotel, Restaurant & Spa: sweet heritage kept fully intact, then wired for a cooler, slower kind of modern living. Ten generations of the Fetz family have run the place. The current chapter, written by siblings Peter and Pia Fetz, reads like a suave country abode married to an urban soul, an unspoken country-house club in the Bregenzerwald.

A suave country abode married to an urban soul, an unspoken country-house club in the Bregenzerwald

Young since 1755

The building has been leaning and settling for close to three centuries, and the Fetz family has never tried to straighten it out. Uneven boards, walls a few degrees off true, beams that bow under the weight of their own history: all of it stays, because all of it is the point. Kings passed through in the old days, among them Maximilian of Bavaria and August of Saxony, along with the poet Eduard Mörike. What they found then and what guests find now is the same warm, slightly crooked room, only the plumbing and the wine list have improved. "Young since 1755" is the house line, and after a recent five-year overhaul it feels earned rather than printed.

Franz Metzler's paintings set the tone through the public rooms, joined by work from Margit Nosko, Paul Renner and Aldo Mondino, all of them Vorarlberg names. Folk furniture painted in the regional Bauernmalerei style sits beside pared-back contemporary pieces, muted linens and clean lines, so the whole house holds two centuries in one breath without either one shouting. Nothing here reads as a theme. It reads as a family that has been collecting, keeping and quietly editing for a very long time, and has excellent taste in both antiques and negronis.

The Historic Inn and the Hirschen Homes

Guest room detail at the Hirschen, Schwarzenberg: an amber glass vase and books on a Historic Inn windowsill in the Bregenzerwald. A vintage armchair, turned wooden table and lamp on herringbone parquet in a Historic Inn room at the Hirschen, Bregenzerwald.

Twenty-six rooms and suites spread across the old inn and the reworked Wälderhaus, no two quite alike, each hung with its own art. The fourteen rooms of the Historic Inn keep their centuries-old ceiling frescoes and parquet, dressed now with Treca mattresses, cotton bedding, roomy bathrooms and Susanne Kaufmann products. Some have fireplaces. Next door, the Wälderhaus has been reborn: a former twenty-one-room seminar block is now twelve Hirschen Homes, contemporary timber suites with proper kitchens, some with two bedrooms, built for the guest who wants to stay a full week and live rather than merely visit. Dogs are welcome in the Wälderhaus.

The Laboratory and the Long Table

A Hirschen chef holds a salt-cured whole fish against the shingled timber wall of the hotel in Schwarzenberg, Bregenzerwald. Michelin green-star canapés at the Hirschen, Schwarzenberg: crisp tartlets topped with trout roe and dill.

The Hirschen has long been a serious food address, and the kitchen keeps raising the stakes: 89 Falstaff points, three Gault Millau toques, and in 2025 a Michelin green star for its organic, whole-animal, whole-plant cooking. Head chefs Jonathan Burger and Raphaela Wirrer run it as a workshop. Burger digs up dishes served at this table centuries ago and rebuilds them lighter and brighter, working with a team of ten on new fermentations and old techniques. Wirrer, named pâtissier of the year in 2024, handles the sweet end. Much of what lands on the plate is grown, raised or made by the family: herb and vegetable gardens, a smokehouse, and Alpe Rothenbach, the family's own mountain dairy turning out butter and the great Bregenzerwald cheeses. The cellars now age wine, cure prosciutto and hold the fermenting jars, and guided tours take guests down to see it. Eat in the cosy historic Stube or out on the garden terrace, and know that Peter's own spot, table 70 by the bar, is where the conversation tends to gather. As he puts it, in the end it is all about the people.

The Bathhouse Spa

A timber-lined Hirschen Homes suite in the Wälderhaus at the Hirschen, Schwarzenberg, with modular sofas under the eaves. The NONA Architects timber bathhouse and heated outdoor pool at the Hirschen, Schwarzenberg, Bregenzerwald.

The centrepiece of the rebuild is the Badehaus, a timber and stainless-steel bathhouse in the garden designed by NONA Architects and built over five years by Bregenzerwald craftsmen alone. Its hipped roofline borrows directly from the valley's vernacular, and the result carried off the Austrian State Prize for Architecture in Tourism and Leisure. Inside are saunas carved from local wood, two generous relaxation rooms, treatment rooms for massage, physiotherapy and Thai yoga, a gym and a light-filled yoga studio. A fifteen-by-four-metre pool, ecologically heated, sits among the greenery outside. Best of all is the underground passage that runs from the spa to the Bathrobe Bar, so a drink after the sauna requires no change of clothes and no return to the ordinary world.

Location

The Hirschen stands on the square in Schwarzenberg, a painted Bregenzerwald village facing its medieval church, with the Vorarlberg peaks rising behind. Lake Constance and the city of Bregenz are a short drive down the valley; Zurich lies to the west, and Innsbruck to the east; and Friedrichshafen airport is about an hour away. Easy to reach, and quiet enough that most people only hear about it from someone who has already been.

The Fetz Line

Pia Fetz, co-owner of the Hirschen in Schwarzenberg, Bregenzerwald, photographed in the garden. Peter Fetz, co-owner of the Hirschen in Schwarzenberg, in the hotel's cellar among preserves and wine.

Peter and Pia Fetz took the reins from their father, Franz, an art curator and one of Austrian hospitality's genuine originals. It was Franz who first treated the Hirschen as a canvas, hanging serious art on old plaster and letting the two argue it out. Peter and Pia grew up inside that idea and then left it, travelling far enough to see the house clearly. "After growing up here, I had to go far away to see the Hirschen empty," Peter says. "Your brand is nothing more than the feeling guests have when they walk through your front gate." Rather than coast on 270 years of reputation, the siblings chose to rebuild. They are natural hosts, outdoor types, wellness believers and committed eaters, and they run the Hirschen as a showroom for the good life, which is also how they describe it themselves.

editors PICK

1280 Krone | Beautiful Design Hotels in Baden-Württemberg, Germany 1280 Krone | Beautiful Design Hotels in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Hotel - Baden-Württemberg, Germany

1280 Krone

Raw architecture, rusticity and a gallery of textured heritage narrate this design hotel outpost from its façade of dandy red shutters to the tales of twisted loft rafters and atmospheric exposed history.

read more
JOURNAL

Chef Jonathan Burger – The Head-to-Tail Gourmet Hipster

Chef Jonathan Burger, awarded the Michelin Green Star, is the likeable maverick behind the stoves at the legendary Hirschen in Schwarzenberg, a place that traces its hospitality roots back to 1755.

read more
Mezi Plutky Boutique Hotel in the Carpathian Mountain range of Beskydy offers cool design accommodation in the Moravian-Silesian region of the Czech Republic Mezi Plutky Boutique Hotel in the Carpathian Mountain range of Beskydy offers cool design accommodation in the Moravian-Silesian region of the Czech Republic
HOTEL - Beskydy, Czechia

Mezi Plutky

Set against the forested Beskydy (Beskids) range in the Carpathian Mountains, this 200-year-old designer hideaway fosters modern Czech country living whilst giving heritage a hug, decked in whites, linens and twisted rafters.

read more
Vocabolo Moscatelli | Design Hotel in Calzolaro, Umbria, Italy | The Aficionados Vocabolo Moscatelli | Design Hotel in Calzolaro, Umbria, Italy | The Aficionados
HOTEL - Umbria, Italy

Vocabolo Moscatelli

Restored within a former monastery, this fabulous design hotel and foodie hotspot brings together the stone mason, blacksmith and wood worker with the artisan makers.

read more

RELATED

Larch-clad facade of Naturhotel Forsthofgut rising against the jagged limestone peaks of the Leogang Steinberge, the five-star forest hotel set into pine woodland in Leogang, Salzburger Land, Austria | The Aficionados. Larch-clad facade of Naturhotel Forsthofgut rising against the jagged limestone peaks of the Leogang Steinberge, the five-star forest hotel set into pine woodland in Leogang, Salzburger Land, Austria | The Aficionados.
HOTEL - Leogang, Austria

Naturhotel Forsthofgut

Four centuries from a forestry outpost to a five-star institution. A family-owned Alpine hotel where nature-inspired design, a farm-fed kitchen and Europe's first forest spa meet in Salzburger Land.

read more
Cool hip Miramonte Hotel & Aveda Spa with Bertoia chairs, White Line Hotels Cool hip Miramonte Hotel & Aveda Spa with Bertoia chairs, White Line Hotels
HOTEL - Bad Gastein, Austria

Miramonte

A peak-side, sophisticated bolthole oozing fifties Vogue glamour. A firm favourite of the design fraternity, it is a trove of timeless, postmodern pieces that feel perfectly at home in this alpine masterpiece of creative chillax.

read more
Ullrhaus | design hotel located in the resort of St. Anton in the Tyrolean Alps Ullrhaus | design hotel located in the resort of St. Anton in the Tyrolean Alps
HOTEL - St. Anton, Austria

Ullrhaus

Ullrhaus is a hotel of muted luxury, where cool design marries Alpine soul and a minimalist edge. Located in the resort of St. Anton in the Tyrolean Alps, home to some of the Alps’ most exhilarating skiing.

read more
Schgaguler Hotel Castelrotto in Alpe di Siusi South Tyrol designed by Peter Pichler Architecture Schgaguler Hotel Castelrotto in Alpe di Siusi South Tyrol designed by Peter Pichler Architecture
HOTEL - Alpe di Siusi, Italy

Schgaguler

A smooth design den pearled in white with an interior design that is eminently simple: a clean alpine aestheticism that borrows from Italian design, the Danish principles of hygge and a touch of sweet sophistication in the Japonesque detailing.

read more
Miramonti, Hotel, luxury, boutique, design, Alps, romantic, South Tyrol, Italy Miramonti, Hotel, luxury, boutique, design, Alps, romantic, South Tyrol, Italy
HOTEL - Avelengo, Italy

Miramonti

The chilled design hotel Miramonti sits perched atop Merano, nestled in forestry with spectacular, Bond-like views. Modernity subtly reigns whilst snuggling up to Alpine traditions – the vibe is relaxed, chilled and most definitely easy-going.

read more
Villaverde Merano | Design Wellness Hotel Apartments in Lagundo Algund, South Tyrol, Italy by Studio Biquadra | The Aficionados Villaverde Merano | Design Wellness Hotel Apartments in Lagundo Algund, South Tyrol, Italy by Studio Biquadra | The Aficionados
Hotel - Lagundo, Italy

VillaVerde

History, design, calmed wellness and an interior of modern heritage make this hotel-apartment refuge close to Merano the perfect pitstop for some downtime and closeness to nature.

read more
Fuchsegg Eco Lodge, Bregenzerwald – Design Hotel in the Austrian Alps, Vorarlberg Fuchsegg Eco Lodge, Bregenzerwald – Design Hotel in the Austrian Alps, Vorarlberg
Eco Lodge - Bregenzerwald, Austria

Fuchsegg

Amid the forests of the Bregenzerwald, wabi-sabi simplicity meets architectural clarity in a contemporary Austrian retreat shaped by timber, mountain light, ecological intelligence and the effortless poetry of sustainable design.

read more
JOURNAL

Yoga at Design Hotel Forsthofgut & Spa: Completing the Metaphor

Six spruce yoga shalas built deep in the forest, mountain views and pine silence in place of a soundtrack. Inside Forsthofgut's forest yoga, from Sun Salutations to snow-lit Yin.

read more
JOURNAL

Nature, Mountains and Architecture - Fabulous Spa

Wellness and the Alps have always been inextricably linked due to the abundance of fresh mountain air, crystal clear water and the proximity of nose-tingling pine forests.

read more
JOURNAL

As the winds blow from the north... and Austrian bubbles

The perfect summer pairing must be spa and hike – and where better to indulge than in a luxury retreat hotel clasped in the alpine mountains framed by snow-dusted peaks.

read more
JOURNAL

Modern Wellness in Austria: The Spa at Hotel Der Engel

Driftwood, spring water and elemental heat. Engel Spa is a raw Alpine hideaway where design restores and nature recalibrates. This is wellness with altitude and intention.

read more
JOURNAL

Austria’s Forsthofgut launches waldSPA Health – a wild new chapter in wellbeing

Cryotherapy at minus 110°C, metabolic diagnostics and breathwork in the pine groves. Inside waldSPA Health, Naturhotel Forsthofgut's new longevity concept, built on four pillars: Roots, Strength, Breath, Mind.

read more
view more