Südbahnhotel am Semmering: Former Grand Hotel Has New Owner
The former luxury hotel an hour's drive south of Vienna, which has been little used for decades, has been bought by the foundation of a Viennese entrepreneur and is to be revitalized. The focus is to be on cultural events. However, it will take years for the hotel to be fully developed.
The Südbahnhotel is a former Grand Hotel on the Semmering Pass that has been in existence since 1882. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Hans Bezard, CC BY-SA 4.0
"The Südbahnhotel (Southern Railway Hotel) is to reopen as a hotel. There will be a focus on cultural events," real estate entrepreneur Christian Zeller emphasized to Gewinn business magazine.
A company of his Christian Zeller Private Foundation, which supports the Vienna State Opera and the Burgtheater, among others, bought the legendary Grand Hotel from the German Klinik-Bavaria Group only in October.
For further planning, he said, the company is also in close consultation with the state of Lower Austria in order to strengthen the Semmering tourism region in the long term.
Lower Austria's Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Tourism Provincial Councilor Jochen Danninger are pleased with this news for the entire region and welcome Christian Zeller as the new owner of the Südbahnhotel at Semmering. "Because Christian Zeller is a proven connoisseur of art and culture and deeply rooted in the region around Semmering."
"The revitalization of the large hotels at Semmering requires very good and well thought-out concepts. The province of Lower Austria supports tourism development, which it coordinates together with the municipality of Semmering. We expect this to give a further boost to the renaissance of Semmering," emphasizes Mikl-Leitner. In addition, the previous owner of the Südbahnhotel, Rudolf Presl, was thanked for preserving the architectural heritage of the Südbahnhotel over many years, for example by renovating the roof.
The "Südbahnhotel am Semmering" is a former Grand Hotel on the Semmering Pass that has been in existence since 1882.
It is located within sight of the Semmering Railway (Austrian Southern Railway) passing the pass. It was the first hotel on Semmering and contributed significantly to its rise as a major climatic health resort.