Then and Now

We are writing the story of the “Oberschaller-farm” togehter: 

While my parents, even in their 80s, remain actively involved in the farm and eagerly support me and my partner Jeannette in our daily work, we make sure every day that we are all well. I have five healthy children aged between 13 and 22. Even today, the health of children is not something to be taken for granted and I am deeply grateful to God. In the spring of 1998, my father handed over the entire farm to me. After careful consideration, we decided to build a new agricultural building (a running stall) and partially renovate the residential building. Bureaucratic tasks in agriculture have long been handled online. Of course, we still personally care for the cows and calves in the barn.

To create a sustainable living environment for future generations, we always consider the future and aim to take the right steps so that the “Oberschaller-farm”, along with the alpine hut and the Giatla Hof, remains a home for our descendants for many years to come. We extensively and authentically renovated the Giatla Hof refuge in 2014 and 2015. This renovation resulted in four modern comfort apartments, surrounded by the history of the house, including a spacious sauna area with a fresh air room in the former hay loft. Renting out the apartments and Alpine hut is, alongside organic farming, another area of our daily work.

Let's also take a look back:
After my grandfather, Josef Schaller, returned to the Villgratental in 1919 following four years of Russian war captivity, he took over the farm from his uncle Johann, who had tragically lost all three of his sons in World War I. The house, which was in a dilapidated state, was renovated in 1927. The marriage to Maria Hofmann (1930) and the birth of Marianne followed. After the sad death of Maria in 1932, Josef Schaller married Aloisia Walder three years later. This marriage produced six children who grew up during the economically challenging times of World War II. The family members became self-sufficient. Oats, barley, rye, beans, poppy seeds and potatoes were cultivated. Cornmeal was smuggled over the “green border” form the neighboring Gsiesertal in exchange for butter and various tools.

Between 1944 and 1955, my grandfather's second-oldest son, Adolf Schaller (my father), worked as a farmhand and “herding boy” at the “Unterlippen” farm. At the age of six, he went to the neighboring farm because the childless neighbors desperately needed help with herding the cows. At that time, the Oberschaller family was in great need and sending one child away made it easier to provide for those who remained. Adolf spent the first two years herding the cows and the following eight years tending to the young cattle on the high alpine pastures.

In March 1953 my grandfather passed away from the effects of a stroke he had suffered in January. He left behind three cows and the bitterest poverty. That same year, an epidemic broke out in the barn, forcing the sale of all the cows. After this loss a pregnant heifer was purchased at an auction. The necessary funds for this were borrowed from neighbors and our family was also supported by former East Tyrolean National Council member Franz Kranebitter. Thanks to the financial assistance that made it possible to purchase the heifer, we were able to survive those difficult times.

Since Josef Schaller hat not left a will, ownership of the farm was equally divided among all seven siblings. Aloisia became the farm manager. Due to the poor economic situation (around the early 1960s) my father's brother had to go to Germany to work in the timber industry.

In 1962 my father inherited the neighboring farm known as Giatla, a farmhouse over 300 years old. Due to this inheritance, Adolf Schaller became more tied to the area and also took over the farming at Oberschaller. This resulted in the doubling of the total land area (approximately 80 hectares, of which only 3.5 hectares were home field, about 40 hectares were forest and the rest were mountain meadows). In 1967 Adolf Schaller married my mother, Cäcilia, née Wiedemair. In 1997 my father purchased an alpine hut and its surrounding land on the Alfenalm, near Kalkstein, form his brother Alois Schaller.