Franz Girbl
Schloss Monchstein
Salzburg, Austria
http://www.monchstein.at
Franz Girbl presides over the kitchens at one of the most extraordinary hotels in the world, called ‚“urban sanctuary of the world‚” by Hideaways Reports. This Relais & Chateaux hotel is in the historic Schloss Monchstein, a castle first mentioned in records in 1350 as the Tetelheimer Turm. In the early 1600s the monks of the Mulln monastery became the owners of the property, and the Archbishop Paris Lodron built the fortifications around the castle. Later that century the convent of St. Peter bought it as a place for ‚“Herren Professoris;‚” in 1661 an astronomical observatory was added to a tower room. In the late 1800s – Banker Leitner became the owner of the estate and built an elevator and road on the Monchsberg; in 1895 the City of Salzburg bought the elevator, and following World War II it was rebuilt within the mountain. At this time, the Schloss was converted to a hotel — and it has continued to receive honors and welcome interesting guests.
To be responsible for the quality of the dining experience at such a place is a formidable task, but Franz Girbl took over as chef and commercial director in 1981 and has earned honors in the tradition of the Schloss. Girbl began at Kochlehre in Salzburg, then went to Hotel Troi Couronne in Switzerland. Moving on to Oslo, he worked at the Restaurant Dronningen, then went to the other end of the earth, Johannesburg, in South Africa, to work at Hotel Tollmann´s Tower. Still zigzagging around the world, he worked at the Casino Hotel in Swaziland, the Hotel La Toc in St. Lucia in the West Indies, the Holiday Inns in Hong Kong and Penang, Malaysia, before returning to his beloved Salzburg to assume responsibilities at the Schloss Monchstein.
Girbl´s restaurant at the Schloss Monchstein, Paris Lodron, has been named Restaurant of the Year. Among the Schloss´ guests have been Catherine of Russia, the Duchess of Liechtenstein, the poet Alexander von Humboldt, Dr. Kurt Waldheim, Frau von Trapp, Sir George Solti, Jessye Norman, Luciano Pavarotti, Peter Ustinov, Mickey Rooney, Claudio Abbado, Baron James de Rothschild, and Alfred Brendel.
