I won’t be delving into the history of Zell am See because it isn’t that sort of place, but its name literally means ‘Cell by the Lake’ and is a reference to the monks’ cells that were part of the monastery which was founded here back in the 8^th century: See is the German name for Lake – so now you know, even if you didn’t want to.

The lake lies in the Zell Valley, and its scenic location saw an increase in visitors when the Salzburg-Tyrol railway line opened in 1875. They included Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) and the Emperor Franz Joseph  whose presence only served to entice other well-heeled people to the area, people such as the Porsche family who still live here and play an important role in local affairs.

In more recent times, wealthy Russians and Arabs have spent their summers here in lakeside hotels, so if you’re looking for a cheap package holiday it’s probably best to look elsewhere.

It’s even more expensive in winter when skiers arrive, and more expensive again at Christmastime, which meant that our stay over the Christmas period wasn’t going to be cheap, but it was something Kay really wanted to do and who was I to argue? Our accommodation was a Posch hotel – not POSH or PORSCH – but POSCH, Posch being the name of the family who owned it. The Hotel Tirolerhof, as it was called, was lovely; nothing pretentious, just high quality with a really friendly atmosphere. Perfect in fact.

We arrived on Christmas Eve, which in Austria, is when the main Christmas meal is served up. The food was different to what we would normally have back home, but it was a lovely evening, with presents handed out to the kids and a magician to entertain the adults. It was all very civilized, and there were no drunks around as we headed down Kirchgasse with other guests to St Hippolyte’s Church for midnight mass. Never having been to midnight mass before, this was all very different to Christmases that I’d been used to. Even the Christmas decorations were low key in comparison as well, but I soon realised that this is how Christmas should really be celebrated.

If I thought Christmas Eve had a magical feel to it, then Christmas morning was even more so. Stepping out into the frosty air brought us within a few yards to the lakeside where  we experienced a phenomenon neither of us had ever witnessed before – fairy dust: I don’t suppose that’s the technical term for it, but it must have been the water vapour in the misty lakeside air turning into ice crystals that made the atmosphere twinkle in the way that it did. It really was quite magical and something I’ve never experienced since. What a start to Christmas Day!

We didn’t have any plans for Christmas day as such – ideas yes, but no plans because we weren’t really sure how the locals treated it. My first thoughts were to have a wander through the town, but with the weather being like it was, we decided to wander around the lake instead.

As we walked around the lake, the mist started to lift, revealing rays of sunshine and an ever increasing blue sky. There were also plenty of people around with skis, which made us quickly realise what people did here on Christmas Day, and so I took a snap decision to follow them up the Hausberg.

A Hausberg literally translates as ‘home mountain’ and in Zell am See’s case it’s the Schmittenhohe. I’d never been on any ski slopes before and didn’t really know what to expect as a non-skier, but nevertheless we headed for the bus station at Postplatz. Climbing aboard the ski bus meant a scramble to get a seat amongst all the other bodies and ski equipment but we weren’t on there long before we arrived at the Schmittenhohebahn Tal (Valley) Station.

The cable car was built in 1927 and transports people directly up to the summit at 1,965 m (6,447 ft), and the further up the mountain we climbed, the brighter the weather got.

If the weather didn’t disappoint, then the views from the Panorama Terrace at the Bergstation (top station) didn’t either.

It didn’t matter one jot that we weren’t skiing, but of course that’s what most people were up here for, and the skill of some of the tiny tots was really quite unbelievable.

The Schmittenhohe, it has to be said, isn’t the most iconic peak in the Austrian Alps, and not only that, most of the snow falls in the months after Christmas, but were we complaining? Absolutely not.

I could never tire of views like this, but I was intrigued by a small church near the Bergstation. I was to find out that this simple chapel was built as a memorial to Empress Elisabeth, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph.

The life of the Empress has often been compared to that of Princess Diana, especially as they both met untimely deaths, but as I’ve covered her court life in my post about The Hofburg I won’t go into too many details here.

I mentioned earlier that both the Emperor and his wife visited Zell am See, but it wasn’t together. Sissi, as the Empress was known, came to the town alone and wanted to go to the top of the mountain: There was no Schmittenhohebahn then and guests were taken to the top by horse-drawn coach, but Sissi insisted that she wanted to walk up – and that’s exactly what she did. With the aid of a guide, she set off in the middle of the night on the 9^th August 1885 to reach the top in time to see the sunrise. Watching the sun rise over the Alps must have lifted her spirits at a time when they were often very low, and her miserable life was finally brought to an end when she was stabbed to death on the banks of Lake Geneva on 9^th September 1898.

The chapel was built in her memory at the spot where she enjoyed the sun rise over the Alpine peaks, and was consecrated on the 10^th anniversary of her death.

We weren’t up here to mourn a death though but to celebrate a birth and so it was time to head up the steps to the Berghotel. Yes, you heard that right; up here at 6,000 ft is a hotel, and what’s more, après ski was already in full swing with everyone enjoying the Christmas Day festivities.

Instead of turkey and all the trimmings, our Christmas Day lunch consisted of one of my favourite savoury German dishes – Bratkartoffein. I think that’s what it’s called, although I can’t be sure, but it’s a dish of warm fried potatoes mixed with bacon and onions, and I can’t get enough of it. Much better than a plate full of sprouts if you ask me.

It soon became obvious that skiing was a by-product for many today and I’m convinced that many ‘skiers’ brought their equipment up here just for the ride. In fact, we met one chap from Derry in Northern Ireland who had no intentions of leaving the bar let alone go skiing. In all honesty, I think it would have been as much as he could do to get back to the cable car let alone anything else – and come to think of it, I didn’t see any skis either.

The sun goes down early in the valley compared to the mountain tops and it was already clouding over too, so it was time to move on, and so we left our Irish friend at the bar and made tracks for the cable car ourselves.

After taking the cable car back down to the Valley Station we caught the bus back to Postplatz and then wandered through the town down to the lakeside. By now the sun was just about clinging on to the mountain tops, but the day wasn’t over just yet.

Click on the images below to see them full size

Christmas Eve may be the main day for celebrating Christmas in Austria but we still had an evening back at the hotel to look forward to. The evening meal was absolutely scrumptious and we were more than happy to retire to the lounge afterwards with a quiet drink to finish the day off. It had been a fantastic day, and when we found a seat next to some people from Torquay we had already bumped into, then it was the perfect end to our Christmas Day – or it was until there was a sudden loud banging on the window behind me. Jesus Christ! What the hell was going on? When I summoned up enough courage to turn round to see what was happening there was somebody peering through the window with a face like the devil.

Fortunately, he was on the other side of the window, but not for long, because the next thing I knew, he was inside and beating me around the legs with a stick – not just me, but anyone he could get his hands on – and that included young children, who for some reason seemed to be enjoying it.

What I didn’t realise to begin with, but soon found out, was that this was a visit from Krampus and a couple of his mates. He was a bit late on parade this year because he normally turns up on St Nicholas Eve (December 5^th) and punishes children who haven’t behaved through the year. Of course, those who’ve been good get a visit from St Nicholas instead.

Krampus is a goat-like creature with horns and long claws who lives somewhere up in the mountains, and to be honest I wish he’d stayed up there because he put the fear of God in me.

As you can imagine, it was all good fun – but I’ve never forgotten Krampus, and I’ve never forgotten Christmas in Zell am See either.

POSTED – DECEMBER 2025