Josef and Bernadette Lunger put heart and soul into looking after their hiking guests, who always look forward to stopping off here.
On the Monte Cavone The Monte Cavone Hut between Fiè allo Sciliar and Tires al Catinaccio has been run by the same family for three generations. It is one of the many spots shrouded in myth and legend in the Alpe di Siusi holiday area, and is a wonderful destination for a day out.
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Text: Katja Sanin Photo: Helmuth Rier
16 ALPE | Summer
Between a land and its people, there is a mysterious affinity, an unseen link that breathes life into the legends and sagas which mankind has told since time immemorial. Their origins are a mystery, and it is fascinating to see how the demons of nature and the sense of being at their mercy have worked their way into our consciousness as friendly and helpful – or wicked – witches, mountain maidens, fiends or dwarves. At the Monte Cavone, legend tells of a “Good Old Man”, who would remind the farmers of the area, in no uncertain terms, when it was time to start ploughing the fields. In this particular legend, we can see the shadow of a benevolent, pre-Christian god of fertility to whom the farming population would offer prayers and
sacrifices. Who knows if this was the same “Good Old Man” who whispered down to where Josef Lunger stood, at these heights of 1,737m, calling him to plant a herb garden? Josef and his wife Bernadette run the hut together with their two sons Michael and Georg, just as Josef did before them together with his own parents, Michael and Josefa. During the summer, all three generations worked together over the years until autumn 2015, when Michl Prentner, as Josef’s father was known locally, passed away and his wife, known as Seffa, who had spent the last few years with him in the valley, handed the kitchen sceptre to her daughter-in-law Bernadette. And now, slowly but surely, the third generation is taking the reins. »