Bayrischzell: Klosterhof Zur Post restarts after renovation

Created: 01/21/2022, 07:00

By: Christian Masengarb

Lots of new things: Among other things, Father Lukas had a new staircase and a new kitchen installed in the courtyard of the Post Office in Bayrischzell.

He says guests praised the fact that the house had retained its old character.

© Thomas Plettenberg

A lot has changed in a short time in the former Gasthof Zur Post in Bayrischzell.

After major renovations, it started again as the Zur Post monastery courtyard.

Bayrischzell – A lot has changed in a short time in the former Gasthof Zur Post in Bayrischzell.

In March 2021, the new owners of the house, the monks from Scheyern Monastery, began to completely renovate it.

In July they welcomed the first gastronomy and overnight guests, now under the name Klosterhof zur Post, and with a quiet opening due to the corona pandemic.

Regular visitors praise the renovations, says the new managing director Father Lukas.

They would have retained the flair and character of the house, but adapted it to modern requirements.

Bayrischzell: Klosterhof Zur Post restarts after renovation

As reported, the former owners Michael and Gudrun Nopper sold the inn to the Scheyern monastery at the beginning of last year after more than 90 years in family ownership.

The Benedictines had offered less than some investors.

But they promised to leave the house its soul.

So the Noppers turned down higher offers and gave their life's work back to the monastery that had built the house around 1740.

Since then, Father Lukas says, he and his comrades-in-arms have tried to justify that trust.

Among other things, the monks remodeled the kitchen for this purpose.

A stove from the interwar period stood here, says Lukas.

"That's no longer possible today." The Benedictines exchanged the furnishings, installed new electricity and pipes.

Even the old wooden stairwell could not be reconciled with modern fire protection regulations.

The monks tore it down, closed the ceilings and set up corridors and common rooms on the space gained.

Elsewhere, they put a new staircase in the building, including an elevator, to make the house barrier-free.

Guests with disabilities can now access their rooms more easily, and visitors no longer have to carry their suitcases to the third floor.

There are also numerous beauty works on carpets, lighting and upholstery.

The monastery contracted out most of the conversion to craftsmen from Bayrischzell or the immediate vicinity.

"Great praise," says Father Lukas.

"It worked very well."

Because the companies completed the most important conversions in just a few months and the monks quickly reopened the monastery courtyard, many former employees remained loyal to the inn.

Where there were gaps, for example due to the departure of former chef de cuisine Michael Nopper, Lukas has now closed them.

"It's a creeping growth process."

Large hall: New windows already there, seating is yet to come

The Benedictines are not quite finished with the conversions.

Small things like some switches have been delayed due to delivery difficulties, but should be installed promptly.

Lukas also wants to have the garden and terrace beautified for the breakfast guests.

Also on the agenda is the completion of the work in the large hall: new windows are keeping the heat in the room much better than before.

A lot has also happened in fire protection.

Seating, paneling and painting still need to be done before the room can be used again for weddings and club parties.

The monastery has invested around twice as much in the Zur Post monastery courtyard as originally planned, says Father Lukas.

Less because of increased material prices, but mainly because the monks discovered many things during the work that they sensibly wanted to do with them.

There are now new power lines in almost the entire house, the fuses are new.

Lukas: "There was simply a need for action."

The work of the monks in the Bayrischzell town hall was well received.

Mayor Georg Kittenrainer says: "The cooperation with the Benedictines is excellent." Things are going well in the house, and operations have got off to a good start.

Father Lukas is also satisfied with the rather quiet start caused by Corona.

The guests would come back, the employees would have been able to adapt their processes to the new environment in peace.

Well established, he also wants to catch up on the opening ceremony this year as soon as the infection situation allows it.