The Essence of the Essential
Anyone approaching the Tannerhof from a distance, who knows where to look, will see it from far off. A simple structure, at first glance almost agricultural in feel, nestled along the meadow slope. It follows the contour lines, fitting in without breaking through or dominating.
As you draw closer, a building flooded with light and air opens up, kept elemental and graceful through the interplay of wood and glass. Before it, the water of an elongated swimming pool sparkles, and parasols set down dabs of colour.
Harpfe, Slope, Harmony
For months it grew behind the most beautiful construction fence in the world: our Badeharpfe. Even if we couldn't have foreseen it then, its origin lay in 2018, when Burgi and Roger first set in motion the planning for a Tannerhof 2.0. Together with the architect Florian Nagler and his team, something ambitious was planned: renovation and extension of the Badehaus and the "Kammerl," the construction of a year-round heated outdoor pool with a wellness building, and the adaptation and expansion of an energy concept aimed at running the outdoor pool self-sufficiently and sustainably.
Architecture that intensifies the experience of nature and creates new images.
But the world had other plans. There came pandemic, lockdowns, existential questions, inflation, supply shortages, exploding costs, political crises, recession — and also the realisation that the surrounding mountains made winter self-sufficiency based on photovoltaics impossible.
You could say the Badeharpfe is the compromise born of the difficulties of our time. We think, instead, that it is the essence. And so it corresponds precisely to the thought that defines the Tannerhof: "Mensch, werde wesentlich" — "Become essential." Or, more aptly here: "Build essentially."
This essentialness is reflected in the very design of the Badeharpfe. An idea that originated with Roger and was realised by the Nagler practice in the truest sense. "Harpfen" are found across the Alpine region — in Carinthia, Tyrol, South Tyrol and Slovenia. In their original form, they consist of roofed vertical posts and horizontal struts, used for drying hay and grain. A wonderfully simple construction, designed to put the natural resources of light and air to work without much fuss.
Letting go of the superfluous creates the chance to feel what is essential.
With this guiding thought — to let the elements of light, air, wood and water do their work as unaltered as possible, only changed by situation and space — something genuinely special has emerged:
- The Badeharpfe building: a two-storey timber long-house with eye-catching, gaze-guiding rafters. At ground level there's a sheltered open-air area for lying in the shade, for yoga, or simply for sitting in shelter and gathering one's thoughts.
- Running parallel: a 25 × 5 m stainless-steel outdoor pool, naturally cleaned, in one of the most beautiful and moving places in the Bayrischzell valley, with a sensational view. Heated from April to October. In winter for ice bathing and cooling off after the sauna — for those who wish.
- Climb one staircase and you reach a (single!) Finnish sauna at around 85°C, with large panoramic windows facing the valley, the Wendelstein and the meadows.
- Climb the other staircase and a cosy, wood-scented quiet room awaits, fitted with Weißhäupl Maliha loungers and surrounded on all sides by glass for simply looking and dreaming.
- Two fitness rooms built into the hillside. One for strength training, equipped by Eleiko, the other for endurance training with Tecnogym apparatus.
- Two showers and two WCs.
- For heating, around 130 photovoltaic modules sit on the roof, and four heat pumps in the converted barn.
This list only begins to approach the reality. In Florian Nagler's words: "At its core, it's something small: a wall, a few rooms behind it, a wooden frame in front and a swimming pool. Nothing huge or spectacular. But it creates and offers an incredible range of different situations."
From the outside, the Badeharpfe slots into the village-like Tannerhof complement-style, as if it had always been part of it. The symmetrical lines of the wood are calming; the reflection of the Wendelstein dances on the water, the parasols glow like the taste of summer ice cream. A sight like a deep breath out.
Looking from inside out, the wood of the Harpfe frames the surroundings and sharpens our perception of them. Burgi puts it beautifully and simply: "Architecture that intensifies the experience of nature and creates new images." That is the true art.
We're tremendously happy, and curious to come to know our Badeharpfe better through the coming seasons — together with our guests.
We already love it.
