The horse farm at Spreitzhofer

If you compare the historical sources for our farm with the general development of the farming community in our country, you will notice a marked continuity at the "Braun". The size has remained almost unchanged over time. This consistency of the generations of owners, their hard work and their performance, has enabled the Erb am Arzbichl to continue to develop uninterruptedly. Mining was the beginning, and farming has kept the farm going up to the present day. The land on which today's holidaymakers find rest and relaxation is shaped by seven and a half centuries of farming tradition.

The “Braunhof” was first mentioned in documents in 1387.



"The prize is to be given according to the day of Christ thirteen hundred years later, in the eighty-seventh year of the Sunday after St. Margaret's day."

These words are written in simple but careful Gothic script at the end of two parchment documents, which three brothers from the powerful noble family of the Lords of Stubenberg had drawn up on July 14, 1387 and authenticated with their seals. The brothers Wulfing 4th, Ulrich 5th and Friedrich 3rd formed the younger line of this family at that time and reorganized their inheritance. One of the documents contains Ulrich's share. In addition to estates in Lower Austria and in the Mürztal, in the upper Feistritztal, around Pöllau, Stubenberg and Weiz, he also received "the estate at St. Kahrein" with around 90 subjects, all of whom are listed by name. One of them is "Fritz an dem Ertzpuhel". This is the first explicit mention of the farmstead, for which the common name "Braun" later became common. The western neighbor, today's "Grubbauer", which at the time consisted of two farms, previously appeared as "Hans in der Grub" and "Randolt in der Grub". The now long forgotten location name "am Arzbichl" is historically extremely significant. It proves that mining was once carried out here. In all probability, this mining was not only the reason for the construction of this farm, but also for the founding of the village of "St. Kathrein am Offenegg". The Braunhof's economic system has always been based on cattle breeding and agriculture. Horse breeding on the farm can be traced back to 1542.