Once upon a time...

The path skirted the foot of the Arlberg and led through a small village which was named "am Berg" (literally “on the mountain”), later to become St Anton.

Built as a traditional Tyrolean stop-off guesthouse for travellers and wagonners, it was Empress Maria Theresia who gave the "schwarze Adler" official permission to open as a guesthouse.

This permission stated that it was the owner of the guesthouse who possessed and was therefore responsible for the publican’s license.

Opposite the hotel, where our coffee room is now situated, were once the stables used for changing horses.

Even as early as 1570, the house was embellished and decorated with frescoes which were updated in 1681 to bring them into line with contemporary tastes. In the course of the years, the frescoes would be painted and re-plastered many times.

During this period, the house was also home to the so-called “lawyer” whose job it was to settle public disputes.

With the construction of the Arlberg Tunnel between 1880 and 1885 St. Anton was connected to the rail network for the first time, a development which was to bring revolutionary changes for both the hotel and the village as a whole. The tunnel sounded in St. Anton’s golden era and during its construction the hotel was used to house some of the up to 3,000 workers involved in the work.

The connection of St. Anton to the train network brought hard times for the guesthouses located along the roadside that were forced to ply their trade from passing travellers. Nonetheless, this didn’t stop Vinzenz Tschol from purchasing the Schwarzer Adler on 4th May 1885.

During an extension of the guesthouse, the earlier wall paintings were re-discovered and restored as an example of Tyrolean art from a by-gone age.