Living Moments - N°5 Edition 2018

Selecting and felling trees, peeling off the bark, adjusting and bring- ing them into line with each other. I even peeled some of the timber for my house. It was completely built in Saalfelden, transported to Ellmau and rebuilt at this “God given” little spot. The feeling of living in a log home is unique. You walk into the house and instantly have a warm feeling of contentment. Does the central trunk in the mid- dle of the house have a particularly special meaning? Trees for log homes should be felled at an altitude of at least 1,000 metres, when the moon is waxing. That way, the trunks just clump to- gether, rather than burning. All of the tree trunks for the house come from the Porsche forest at Zell am See. I practically live in a “Porsche house”, which brings us back to the topic of cars. According to a Feng Shui master, the central trunk in the middle has an enormous positive en- ergy. This selected, already revered tree once grew on a spring. The con- stant flow of the water caused the tree to twist and all of the power of Mother Nature and the water are combined in it. Touching it will bring you luck! Do you believe in Feng Shui? I kind of basically believe in harmo- ny with nature and in goodness. My mum always said “a kind word is never thrown away” and she set that example in the way she lived. I have always got on quite well that way. That’s also how I got the site where my house is now built. Countless interested parties were after the original old farm. But the owner, a distinguished and extreme- ly elegant, elderly lady from Vienna absolutely did not want to give it up. One day during the winter, when the snow was really deep, my door- bell rang (at that time I was renting somewhere further down the moun- tain). There, standing on my door- step, was the lady from Vienna. She wanted to use the phone and need- ed a breakdown truck, because she had slid into a ditch. I was my usual, charming self and offered to tow her out of the ditch. I took the opportu- nity to mention that if she ever want- ed to sell the farm, I would be inter- ested. Sure enough, three weeks later, she phoned me – hurray! So I somehow think that good things can happen, if the energy is right. You travel a lot with your job. What does your “home” mean to you? “Being at home” has never been as crucially important to me as it has in recent years. It’s mainly to do with a feeling of harmony and security. My life here is the exact opposite of what my work demands, so to speak. At home, tuning out and suppression become conscious and detailed per- ception and enjoyment. It starts in the morning when I first look at the impressive mountainous backdrop of the Wilder Kaiser from my bed- room window. You quickly learn to read and assess it. It’s fantastic when INTERVIEW I HANS-JOACHIM STUCK 18 EDITION N°5 • 2018 Living Moments Fotos: © Gerhard Groger Photography