Hut Fund Report

by Janet Britnell

The new Annaberger Haus and Bettelwurfhütte

The new Annaberger Haus
Photos by George Unterberger

The Annaberger Haus, 1377m, a popular category I hut on top of the Tiroler Kogel in the Türnitzer Alpen, Niederösterreich, with wonderful views of the Schneeberg, the Hochschwab and Gesäuse mountains, is open nearly all year round, but by 2014 it was in serious need of renovation.

The hut belongs to the Österreichischer Gebirgsverein, one of the three large Viennese sections with nearly 24K members but 19 huts, many of which are in need of modernisation. After the longstanding Hüttenwirtin retired in autumn 2014, the basement was drained, renovated and found to be basically sound. It was re-organised to provide space for a winter room and infrastructure equipment and, at the same time, the terrace was also renovated.

The rest of the hut was known to be in need of major repair and modernisation to meet modern standards and regulations and, after an architect's analysis and report, the project was prioritised by the section. Once work started in 2015 and previously inaccessible parts of the building's fabric could be reached, it soon became apparent that the 'worst case scenario' concerns were realised and that the best option was to demolish the old building down to the basement ceiling, and rebuild.

Gaststube Annaberger Haus

The outer hull of the new hut was built in late 2015 and the interior completed by the end of April 2016. The cost in 2015 was EUR900K after tax and, fortunately for the section, Category I hut projects were awarded 50% of costs from central funds in 2015, instead of the usual 40%, due to the increased Federal funding. The work in 2016 cost another EUR260K, 47% of which should be refunded from central funds, bringing the total cost of the rebuilding project to EUR1160K.

Meanwhile, in autumn 2015 the diesel generator failed. Huts cannot rely totally on photovoltaic energy: they need back-up energy provision, particularly in the winter. As rapeseed oil is a renewable energy source, the Alpenverein is encouraging the sections to replace failing diesel generators with rapeseed oil generators, but these cost twice as much as diesel generators, and both the ÖGV and Alpenverein have already poured a great deal of money into the Annaberger Haus. The Hut department asked if Sektion Britannia would consider a Hut Fund donation to ÖGV to encourage them to opt for a rapeseed oil generator. The plan was adopted by ÖGV, but the cost of installation and the provision of special tanks for storing rapeseed oil pushed the cost up to EUR42K.

Then some of the lithium batteries used to store energy generated from the photovoltaic cells on the roof of the Annaberger Haus failed. ÖGV pioneered the use of lithium batteries and, since then, Sektion Austria has followed their lead and installed lithium batteries in five of their huts. The plan now is that the European firm that has installed photovoltaic systems for Sektion Austria will repair and replace parts of the photovoltaic system, including the failed lithium batteries, at the Annaberger Haus, adding another EUR40K to the bill for energy infrastructure.

The Executive Committee has agreed to award ÖGV EUR25K towards the cost of environmentally friendly energy provision at the Annaberger Haus.

In the 2014 summer Newsletter I reported that the Executive Committee had agreed to award EUR10K to Alpenverein (Zweig) Innsbruck towards the cost of improvements at the Bettelwurfhütte, an important hut, in a wonderful position overlooking the Inn valley, that doesn't generate much surplus cash. However the project was seriously delayed due to a dispute between the section and the air traffic authorities on one hand and the local council on the other, over the size of the orange warning balls and the position of the aircraft warning rope in front of the Materialseilbahn used to supply the hut. So the grant was never paid, but the promise of our support was an important morale booster at the time for the dedicated Hüttenwart. The dispute has at last been resolved. The section has to increase the size of the warning balls at a cost of EUR15K instead of the possible EUR150K if the whole warning rope had had to be moved, and planning permission for the hut renovation has been given. The hut renovation project will go ahead in the summer of 2016 and the promised Hut Fund grant will be made. Unfortunately the estimated cost of the renovation has risen to EUR481K, but at least the Alpenverein funding for a Category I hut, such as the Bettelwurf, will be 47% in 2016.

There is a link between the history of the two hut projects referred to in this report: the postponement of the Bettelwurf project in 2014 meant that the Alpenverein funding allocated to that project became available for the unexpected emergency work on the Annaberger Haus basement in autumn 2014, and that in turn helped ensure that all the available federal funding for 2014 could be utilised.

Thank you for your generosity in donating to the Hut Fund: the moral and financial support provided by our Hut Fund donations is much appreciated by the sections themselves, and also by the Hauptverein. Several other possible Hut Fund Projects are already under consideration for 2016/17, so please keep the donations coming in.

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