“You learn new things every day here in the hotel, but it’s the same when I’m on the road. I meet people, who enrich my life with interesting things,”

says Mario Kautzsch, responding to the question about what he finds particularly enjoyable. He is referring to his work as the owner of the “Haus am Ahorn” holiday hotel in Kottenheide – and his honorary position as the chairman of the European Oldie Football Sports Association. He uses both enthusiastically to publicise the Vogtland region as an ambassador. 

Mario Kautzsch purchased the idyllic complex in 2004/05 and his wife Kirsten works hard in the kitchen to ensure that the guests are spoilt in culinary terms; he manages the family business with his daughter Diana. The fact that the hotel is located in the middle of a forest right next to hiking and cycle paths and cross-country skiing tracks is an advantage here in the Vogtland region. But there are thousands of hotels located in the middle of natural surroundings. That is why he travels around Germany, persuading people about the beauty of the region, because people can actively experience nature here at any time of the year.

“Here in the Vogtland region, I ask entrepreneurs what needs to be available for their business customers. We’re continually making investments in order to be able to meet these wishes – for example, to provide free WiFi in each room,” the full-blooded restaurateur says, referring to his latest development. The message is: experiencing the natural surroundings in the Vogtland region includes having access to the Internet in each room. 

The native of Zwickau also mentions the division of labour. Diana has developed a fantastic wedding concept. He repeatedly makes new contacts with people involved in sports. He is proud that the family business is on a sound footing. But he is concerned that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find suitable personnel.

And then there is Mario Kautzsch’s very special passion: football. He began playing as a child in Zwickau Planitz and remained faithful to his sport as he grew older. He founded the European Oldie Football Sports Association (EOFS) with other enthusiasts in 1999 and he is still in charge today. The association organises many football tournaments here in the Vogtland region and takes part in other competitions both at home and abroad. The greatest success so far was his Vogtland team’s victory at the World Fun Cup on the Gold Coast in Australia in 2004. The highlight in the EOFS’ association history was “the greatest football tournament in the world” in the Vogtland region in 2007.

143 teams from five continents travelled here. The next major event will be the German Men’s U32 Super Cup on 15 – 18 June 2017. “We’re expecting 1,400 football players aged between 32 and 40 and most of them will come with their families,” says Mario Kautzsch, highlighting the enormous economic benefits for the region. The tournaments organised in the past generated turnover of approx. EUR 4 million for the Vogtland region. “It would be good if the tourism managers in the Vogtland region involved people to a far greater degree, who can organise things and achieve benefits for many,” says Mario Kautzsch, expressing his wishes as a Vogtland ambassador. He says this, as he boards a bus with guests to show them the many tourist attractions in the region during a sightseeing trip.

Vita Mario Kautzsch

• Born in Zwickau in 1962
• Married with two adult children
• Trained to be a waiter in Zwickau and gained qualifications as a restaurant manager and a master waiter through a correspondence course
• Has been in the Vogtland region since 1984, working in what was then the East German Trade Union “Karl Marx” holiday centre in Schöneck; he later managed the Hotel “Lindenhöhe” in Erlbach
• Founded the European Oldie Football Sports Association in 1999
• Has been owner of the “Haus am Ahorn” holiday hotel in Kottenheide since 2004; he manages it jointly with his wife Kirsten and his daughter Diana Golla-Kautzsch

Internet:

• Haus am Ahorn