"Helene von reichenbach" and "helmut von mittelberg and geuser" – stately titles adorn the outside wall of the mittelberger radspitz inn. Appropriately, however, the view from the leipold family estate can only be described as majestic. And helmut leipold looks as proud as an entire kingdom when he stands in front of his inn and looks into the distance to indicate where the sun will shine at 8 a.m. in summer.30 o’clock rises and where it disappears again in the late evening. "The situation is unique", says leipold, not without enthusiasm. Nevertheless, a successor to the throne should be found as quickly as possible.
From pigsty to retreat
More than twelve years ago, helmut leipold and his wife helene decided to convert the old pigsty in mittelberg into a guesthouse. The property has long belonged to the family, but after the death of his brother, it passed to the civil servant. "In 2005 we said: let’s make something out of it", according to leipold. "At that time mittelberg was still a village like shortly after the war", remembers the 63-year-old.
The cycling summit was his contribution at the time, he says, to "fire up" the village. "It is simply wonderful what has happened in mittelberg", says leipold and reports on the wonderful cooperation, the good relationship with the neighbors and the frankenwaldverein seibelsdorf, which is adjacent to the radspitzalm.
According to his own statement, he has invested more than a quarter of a million euros in the return to date – but this has meanwhile paid for itself. Because especially in summer, thanks to the best sunny location, the store is reliably full. The inside area of the radspitzeinkehr can accommodate 50 people, and the leipold family can cater for another 150 in the beer garden. "In summer we often don’t know where our heads are", says leipold. "On some Sundays, you’re behind the tap from nine in the morning until ten in the evening – and you’re 63!, he says, thus introducing the reason why he and his wife want to quit. He has been retired for exactly one week and thinks: "You have to start living sometime."
Weekend again at last
He and his wife have not had a weekend in twelve years. As a civil servant, he continued to work full time during the week. His wife used to spend her nights baking cakes before some holidays. "We agree, we also want to have time off and be able to enjoy the time", he says.
He is wistful, but adds: "The wistfulness has become less." the relationship with the parish is now strained, communication is no longer personal as it used to be, but only by mail. A major point of contention is the expansion of the road from seibelsdorf to mittelberg.
In the meantime, according to leipold, two camps have formed: those in favor of road expansion and those who feel their seclusion is threatened by asphalting. Leipold fears that potential tenants will be put off by the poor road conditions – this is precisely why the first interested parties have turned him down.
Background: puddles at the tip of the wheel make high waves
If no one can be found to take over the restaurant, leipold already has a plan B up his sleeve: "i will try to bring about a change of use", he explains his plans to convert or expand the inn into apartments. With the exclusive residential location, he wants to sell precisely the seclusion as a concept that the opponents of the road expansion see threatened.
But first they are looking for a tenant. But even though the search is already underway, he and his wife want to continue at least until the end of the year. "Maybe even longer", he says – already looking again to the distant "his kingdom" directed.