Franz-Fischer-Hütte

Hut Fund Report
Franz-Fischer-Hütte

by Janet Britnell, Hut Fund Representative

The Franz-Fischer-Hütte is a ategory I hut, situated at 2020m, WSW below the Mosermandl (2680m), near Zederhaus, in the beautiful Naturpark Riedingtal, Radstädter Tauern. In 2011 the hut was adopted by a small local section, Sektion Lungau, based in Tamsweg, Schladminger Tauern. The hut was very dilapidated so in 2013, with help from Sektion Britannia’s Hut Fund, this was replaced by an imaginatively designed, prefabricated, wholly wooden construction on top of the basically sound concrete foundations. During 2019 and 2020 the section constructed a biological wastewater treatment plant on their land near the hut.

In late June 2021 the multi-Alpenverein (ÖAV, DAV and AVS) team that assesses huts for the award of the Alpenvereins’ Environmental Seal of Quality (eco-label) visited the hut. The team found that under the management of the current tenant, Evelyn Faber, and her partner, Thomas Burger, the Franz-Fischer-Hütte is very well run and is very close to 100% conformity to the strict environmental criteria required for the award of the eco-label. The team were also very impressed by the food served at the hut. Evelyn is very committed to developing a variety of tasty, nutritious and healthy meat-free dishes, using fresh ingredients from local sustainable sources. Since 2020 the menu at the hut has been entirely vegetarian or vegan. The food seems to be very popular with visitors to the hut, an increasing number of whom return again and again, often staying several nights in this remote area.

However, there is a problem with the energy supply to the kitchen. The electricity for the hut is generated by a small hydro-electric turbine dependent on the flow of water over the dam at the end of the Zaunersee, a small lake on the neighbour’s land. When the lake is full the turbine generates 6kW but, for the last 5 years at least, by the autumn, when the water level is low, it only generates 4kW. Most hut kitchens use 15-20kW, so it takes a some skill to manage with 6kW. For 2 hours a day cooking food for guests has to take priority, and there has to be a certain amount of juggling with the power supply to other electrical equipment in the hut. With only 4kW even this becomes almost impossible if the hut is full.

A battery to store energy generated outside peak times, at an estimated cost of €25-30K, is urgently needed. As an environmental project, the section should be able to reclaim 50% of the cost from the central Alpenverein pot. However, S. Lungau still have to pay back the loan they raised to finance the waste-water treatment plant. The kitchen floor, including the substructure, had to be replaced in Autumn 2021 with a combination of layers suitable for a hut that is unheated in winter; 80% of the estimated €22K will be paid by the Alpenverein insurance policy for the huts, but Sektion Lungau will still have to pay the remaining 20%. They also need to do some work at the Landawirseehütte, their other hut. The Hauptverein hut department asked if we could help. In July 2021, the Sektion Britannia Board agreed to offer to pay a Hut Fund donation of up to €15K to Sektion Lungau on condition that the battery would be installed before the hut re-opens in June 2022. The battery parts were ordered by the end of November 2021, and the supplier prepared and configured them ready for installation after the snow melts in 2022.

With much of the installation work being done by section volunteers, led by the excellent Zederhaus based Hüttenwart, Hans Kössler, the estimated cost of installing the battery is now €24K. The Sektion Britannia Board agreed to pay €15K to Sektion Lungau towards 50% of the cost of the battery with any remaining money helping pay the 20% of the cost of renewing the kitchen floor.

Once the donation had been confirmed, the Chairman Wilhelm Esl, replied “Thank you for the very good news for the Lungau section. We are very happy to accept your donation for the Franz-Fischer-Hütte and will list it at the hut for all guests to see.”He added “I hope we were able to convince you and your section that the donation, which you made to build the hut [in 2013] is well invested and that the hut has become a jewel and a model enterprise.”

Our Hut Fund is appreciated very much both by the Hauptverein and by the sections receiving the donations. Thank you for supporting the fund and please keep the donations coming in.

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