NARRATOR
On 25 November 1911, Ludwig and Irma Hollmann have a double occasion to celebrate in Obermais, near Meran: their silver wedding anniversary and the 25th anniversary of their respective positions as balneotherapist and masseuse. The couple work together at the Meran spa centre where, from October to May, they offer the latest treatments, from various therapeutic baths, pressure massages and mud packs, to inhalations and electrotherapy: in summer they work at Bad Ischl or in the Engadin. In 1914 they are for the first time offered a position at the Grandhotel Waldhaus in Vulpera; they plan to return there next summer.
War has meanwhile broken out in Europe. Yet the front is still far away and, at 52, Ludwig Hollmann is no longer liable for military service. On 29 March 1915 Irma Hollmann writes to Emil Meuli, manager of the Waldhaus:
IRMA
Esteemed Sir,
We are ready and will arrive in Vulpera on 1 June as scheduled. Might your dear wife perhaps also have a vacancy for my daughter as a housemaid? She is a very capable seamstress and works in the leading salons. I also have another daughter, should a waitress be required – a very nice girl who spent three years in Dresden. She has now been here since the outbreak of war with a lady from Franconian Switzerland and would be available in the summer.
Both my sons are still well, thank heavens. The younger one is in the infantry and has already been decorated; the older one is with the signals regiment.
My husband also sends his best regards to your wife and to Mr and Mrs Pinösch.
With the greatest respect,
Irma Hollmann
NARRATOR
However, leaving for Switzerland proves more difficult than expected. The Hollmanns now need a passport and a certificate of employment and their departure is delayed.
In July they finally receive all the necessary documents and set off. In the meantime, Italy has also entered the war and Tyrol is now a war zone. At the border, the Hollmanns are turned back: the signature of the Swiss consulate is missing. They have to turn around and send their passports to Vienna.
The Waldhaus re-advertises the vacancies – and the Hollmanns thus miss the season.
On 18 December 1915, Irma Hollmann writes to Vulpera:
IRMA
It is very quiet here as no more foreigners are permitted to come. The spa centre has not even opened. All the hotels and guesthouses are also closed.
My husband is helping out as a ticket inspector with the tram company, as everyone has been called up for duty. Waldner, the blond coachman from Vulpera, is also working for the tram company as a driver, as he was wounded in the left arm. The stablemaster, poor man, is said to have been killed in action. I am helping out as a nurse in the reserve hospital.
We would now respectfully ask you to engage us once more when your establishment reopens in spring. Our papers are now in order.
NARRATOR
The Hollmanns are offered the position. In spring 1916 they send confirmation of their acceptance by the Waldhaus to the Tyrolean authorities. The reply is a long time in coming.
LUDWIG
We are in a terribly desperate situation and feel like prisoners here.
NARRATOR
… writes Ludwig Hollmann on 16 April. Three weeks pass before the long-awaited reply arrives – but with bad news.
LUDWIG
Today we received our application, which was rejected with the remark “not permitted at present”. This came as an expected blow to us. We hope, Sir, that you will forgive us: it is not our fault and many others are in the same situation. We would ask you – God willing that we still live to see the peace – to keep our positions open for next year.
NARRATOR
For the 1916 season, the Waldhaus hires a balneotherapist from Biel, who is exempt from military service and has trained in Paris. It remains unclear when, or indeed if, the Hollmanns ever manage to return to Vulpera. Apart from Ludwig Hollmann’s obituary, appearing in June 1930, there is no further trace of them in either Merano or the Engadin.