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Old and New Spirit of Hospitality B Y
JA M E S
B A S C O M
Hospitality is as old as humanity itself. Ever since man began traveling the Earth he has needed a place to stay. Innkeeping can be found in all cultures around the globe, and it is mentioned several times in the Bible. Convents and monasteries all over Christian countries considered hospitality as a sacred duty. A certain number of monastery doorkeepers were even canonized. Inspired by the monastic example, innkeeping was a very personal affair until the twentieth century. An inn was often little more than a family that opened up part of their home to travelling strangers. The owner’s wife and daughters cooked simple yet hearty meals for their guests. His sons might serve the table, take care of the stables and perform other manual tasks. The inn may not have had the latest technology or the finest china, but guests truly felt served and welcomed with warmth and charity. Portraits and other charming relics of family history often decorated the interior of an inn. The house may have been built by a revered ancestor, with the personal style and taste of the family in evidence throughout. Perhaps a game trophy hangs above the fireplace. The family members were probably born under its roof and
would almost certainly die under it. Hence the allure of the traditional, family-run inn. An example of one is the Sandhof Inn in the Austrian Tyrol, once owned by the family of Andreas Hofer, the famous Austrian leader who fought against Napoleon. Judging by its design and decoration, the Sandhof truly reflects the alpine personality of the Austrian people and of the Hofer family from which it draws its fame. Everything about it, from the window flowers and garden to the wooden roof to the portrait of Andreas Hofer himself hanging from the outside wall, suggests an unpretentious human touch that is so appealing to many modern travelers. It is a glimpse into a time when staying at an inn was not, as it is today, a mere business transaction between a “consumer” and some impersonal, multi-national hotel conglomerate. Rather, it was an opportunity to participate in a human-to-human interaction, for a family to serve a weary traveler regional treats like local cheese, the family’s traditional ham or sausage or their wine—all not found anywhere else—or even an occasion to make a new friend along the way. C O N T I N U E D
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