Zeinisjoch House

The history of the guest house is like taking a trip through time.  It not only substantiates the importance of the old crossover into Paznaun, but it also documents everyday life, living conditions and the development of various economic factors in the Innerfratte.  When telling it from the point of view of someone who lives here, world history and family chronicles are all woven together in an animated story.

In the official rent-roll of the governorship in Bludenz, we read that there was already a tavern on the Zeinisjoch in the 16th century.  There is a postcard from the year 1912 which says “Gasthaus zum guten Tropfen” which means something like “Good wine Guesthouse”.  Around 1920, the guest house was run and lived in by Franz Mattle.  Even though he said he really loved it up there, he sold the Zeinisjoch house to Zerres Pfeiffer from Partenen.  In 1930, Josef Lorenz, from the house of “Balluner”and owner of the Wiesbadner Hut, bought the guesthouse, the land and everything that went with it.  Since then it has been in the hands of the Lorenz family and business has been booming since then.  The original house was around 16 meters long – including the stall, and 10 meters wide.  It had 18 beds and a room that could sleep 12 people on mattresses.  There were four Bludenz stoves in the house in which they burned wood for heat.  There was even a washing laboratory.  Josef Lorenz began to renovate the place and installed central heating in the years 1931/1932.  A private power station had to be built to supply the house with electricity.  In 1933 Lorenz started adding the extension to the house and finished it in 1934.  In 1948 the Ill Power Plant started with the transition of the brook and the old Zeinis path was made into a drivable street.  This meant that from then on, supplies could be brought up here by car.  In 1961 construction on the Kops dam was started.  Since then, there has been a wide street leading up to the Zeinisjoch house.  Today, the Zeinisjoch house is a popular place to go on an excursion, even for motorised guests.  The street leading up to the Zeinisjoch house, the Kopstrasse, branches off from the Silvretta-Hochalpenstrasse above the district of Wirl in Gältür, and runs above the crown of the Zeinis viewpoint to the Kops Reservoir.  This gives those people that don’t want to walk a chance to view the reservoir as well..