Everyone who has ever spent a holiday in one of our Falkensteiner Family Hotels certainly knows him: Falky! The fluffy, pawsome and always ready to play darling of the children is simply part of the family holiday at Falkensteiner. But do you actually know how Falky came to us? No? Then Falky will tell you personally:
Many years ago, the Falkensteiner family, that was mother Maria, father Josef and their two sons Erich and Andreas, lived in a small but fine house in Ehrenburg in beautiful South Tyrol. There was always something going on here! Because the two parents rented out some of the rooms in their house to guests and so it happened that very often families with their children also spent their holidays with the Falkensteiners. This was especially nice for Erich and Andreas, because they always found new playmates with whom they could play and romp around.
One day, it was summer holidays in South Tyrol, the children made an unusual discovery as they were running through the garden playing “hide and seek”. Little Erich had found a particularly good hiding place. He was sitting under a big apple tree. “They certainly won’t find me here,” he thought, when all of a sudden something fell into his lap from above. At first he thought it was an apple, but when he looked closer he saw that it was a large brown egg. He carefully took it in his hand and came out from behind the tree to call his little brother and his friends. They were amazed when he showed them the egg. “Where did that come from?”, “Did it fall from the sky?”, “Is that a chicken egg?” they shouted excitedly. No, of course I wasn’t in a hen’s egg, after all I am a proud peregrine falcon, but the children couldn’t know that at the time.
Since they couldn’t find a nest in the apple tree from which my egg could have fallen, they decided to take the egg into the house and take good care of it there. They put it in one of the beds, because it was nice and warm and soft there – nothing would happen to the egg here. And indeed I felt very comfortable there. But I realised that it was time to introduce myself to the children. A few days later, Erich and Andreas, in whose room the egg was kept, were woken up by an unusual noise. They got out of their beds and looked at the egg, in which I began to stretch and wiggle. They quickly called the other children over and all looked spellbound at the brown egg in front of them. Then, finally, I pushed myself through the shell with my little beak. Carefully I pushed myself all the way through and looked up at the children who were looking at me with wide eyes. I must say, I really was a cute little fellow with my ruffled, fluffy-soft brown plumage.
Awakened by the noises, Josef and Maria Falkensteiner now joined us and also looked down at me in amazement. “Look what we found!” the children exclaimed excitedly. “A falcon!” exclaimed father Josef in amazement, while mother Maria took me carefully in her hand and gently stroked my head. I liked the Falkensteiner family immediately. Full of enthusiasm, the children told the story of how they had found me and looked after me for days. “You did a good job!” Maria praised the children and gave them a proud smile. “What are we going to do with the little guy?” asked Father Joseph, scratching his head broodingly. At that moment I was so nervous that my little heart was pounding excitedly. And the pairs of eyes of the children also looked pleadingly at the two parents. The two of them laughed and Mother Mary finally said, “Well, we’ll keep him, of course! A feeling tells me it’s not a coincidence that a little falcon, of all things, has strayed to us Falkensteiners.” Phew, I was relieved! So I had a real home, a loving family and lots of friends to play with. “But then he needs a name,” interjected Father Josef. After a moment, the children shouted loudly and with shining eyes, “FALKY!” Oh yes, I liked the name, so I began to peep happily.
So it happened that from then on I was called “Falky” by everyone and I grew up in the house of the Falkensteiner family to be the big, plush and admittedly sometimes a bit clumsy, falcon you know today. Year after year, more and more children and their families came to the house in Ehrenburg to romp around, play and cuddle with me. I loved this time! Soon the old parents’ house became too small though and so the Falkensteiner family decided to turn their small guesthouse into a big, beautiful hotel, which is now known as the Falkensteiner Hotel Lido Ehrenburgerhof.
When I finally grew up, the desire to see even more of the world and to travel a lot also grew in me. Because as a peregrine falcon, the desire to travel is in my blood, so to speak. In the meantime, my family, who had given me a loving home as a chick, had opened more hotels and so my wish to travel the world came true. Every year I visit the children in the Falkensteiner Family Hotels. Because there is nothing more beautiful in the world for me than to look into the shining eyes of the many kids and to experience all kinds of adventures with them.
