WHEN THE LAKE EXPANDS
AND THE PLAY OF TEXTURES
SETTLES OVER ITS DEPTH,
THE SAME THING IS ALWAYS NEW
The tailor’s house
This house is not just any house, it is Ruth Zimmermann's house. Ruth, a master tailor, local innkeeper, art lover, Hallstatt original and much more ... A narrative thread runs through the pictures on the walls and it is woven into many other objects in this house. It is the spinning thread of her biography that tells a story of her talent for uniting people and her spiritual affinity and love for the world of art and its protagonists. On the whole, it shows her unique way of knowing how to live life. Whoever stays here can be confident to be warmly welcomed in this house.
The house at Lake Hallstatt
There are only a handful of houses standing at the small lane along the shore of the lake. Ruth’s tiny house is in the front row and it nestles against the rocks, its foundation and terrace are right above the deep blue of Lake Hallstatt. Only the traditional Hallstatt boats called “Fuhren” are closer to the lake. You enter the house from the small alley and two floors below the lake und its magic extends in front of you. You will always perceive the lake in a different light as often as you look across it as it changes continuously caused by light, wind and temperatures. Although the house is equipped with a TV, you will hardly ever switch it on because the fascination of the lake will cast its spell on you.
A house with history
The ancient way to the village centre and on to Obertraun at the end of the lake has always led through this historical part of Hallstatt. Today, as traffic flows through the tunnel, this first enchanting view of the village is reserved for pedestrians. In Hallstatt, where prehistoric finds point to a 7,000-year-old past, people might have a different attitude to call something steeped in history. However, the fact that the Hallstatt municipal jail was once located in this house may be mentioned as an entertaining curiosity. Today, supposed lawbreakers do not sweat there anymore, but only the sauna guests of the house.
Arts and the tailor
Ruth, who had an affinity for arts and artists, not only had the sculptor Karl Keßler as her life partner, she also had many artist friends and organised legendary vernissages in her tailor’s workshop and her pub. The painting in the background here is by Wolfgang Hanghofer. It shows Hallstatt in a strong impasto design, applied to old mailbags. The artist gave this work to Ruth and thus it found its way from the spectacular exhibition venue on Hallstatt’s market square to Ruth’s house, where it hung in the garden for a long time and was weathered. Today this painting is no longer exposed in the garden, but it is exhibited in the house and enriches it, but its stay outdoors proves Ruth’s unsophisticated and appreciative access to pieces of art without sterile museum-like reverence.
More than a time-off ...
Hallstatt time !
Hallstatt is a special place, an ensemble shaped by time, marked by a long history of salt mining and characteristic because of its cramped location between the mountains and the lake. The magic of this small town is rooted in its attractive appearance and the infinite depths of its history. Ruth’s house is just as special. With its location and compactness quite exemplary for the place, the life story and personality of its last inhabitant has written itself into this house. We wanted to retain traces of this without preserving a condition. They should be read more like a quotation and encourage you to spend your time in this house a little in Ruth’s way, with a lot of vitality, humour, pleasure, sensuality and a desire for something new.
From our point of view, guests need to take their time and let the place take an effect on them. Then Hallstatt opens up in all its many facets. To get started, you often only need a quiet moment with a view of the lake, the town and the mountains. This is more than a time-off, this is Hallstatt time!
