The history of the ARCOTEL Moser Verdino - part 2

As already mentioned in the first part of this blog, Georg Struggl's son Martin married Maria Josefa, the daughter of an iron ore mine and nail forge operator, in 1723. In this part of the story, you will find out whether their relationship persisted over the years and how the Moser family came into play.

Fate had it hat Maria Josefa lost her husband quite ealry into their marriage which forced her to run the business all on her own. When a second big fire hit Klagenfurt, large parts of the city including the hotel were severely damaged. The neighbou's son, Josef Moser helped Maria Josefa with the comprehensive reconstruction works, during which they fell in love with each other. After only a short while, Maria Josefa got pregnant with the first of their altogether eight children. They spent a wonderful 18 years together but then Josef Moser died and Maria Josefa was once again left to fight for herself. Unwilling to give in to her fate, she held her ground and invested all her strength into the family business and the upbringing of her children. Over the years, Maria Josefa became a much loved and respected landlady thus laying the foundations for the hotel's excellent reputation.

The Moser family

Maria Josefa's grandson, Johann Nepomuk Moser supported his family as best as he could. Being a passionate host, he was widely known for his excellent social skills, his determination, reliability and kindness. Married to Katharina, the beautiful daughter of Klagenfurt's town magistrate Jesse, Johann Nepomuk lived a long and fulfilled life. At the age of 78, he retired and handed over the business to his children.


His youngest son viktor took much after his father. He renovated the hotel in 1860 by enlarging it and tiling the roof with red brick tiles, which were rather rare in Klagenfurt at the time. Having lost her husband early into their marriage, Viktor Moser's daughter-in-law Henriette took up the challenge and ran the by then well-established Moser Hotel on her own. However, when Viktor also died on 29 January 1897, she sold the hotel for 75,000 gulden to Julius Verdino.

This was the family history of the Mosers! Look out for our next blog entry, in which we will tell you more about the Verdinos and the subsequent history of the ARCOTEL Moser Verdino.