The Noble One. Klemens von Unterrichter

Klemens’ mother Rita is primarily responsible for attending to the holiday guests’ needs. His sister Christine supports her with digital guest management and the website. “The holiday flats are an important source of income for the farm,” Klemens told us. “After all, they help us maintain the castle. Houses need to be lived in; and such a big one even more so.”

The family descends from a noble, centuries-old Tyrolean family: Unterrichter zu Rechtental. Carl, Baron Unterrichter is one of Klemens’ ancestors. He purchased the estate, converted it into a castle and had the surrounding fields irrigated. Back then, most of it was riverbed and marsh land. Klemens’ grandfather Mario Günther and his father Rudolf developed the farm into what it is today. And they were the ones who converted to organic agriculture in 1997.

Young Klemens took over the farm in 2017, right after he graduated from high school. Then he went to Vienna, studied agriculture and earned a master’s degree in “Nutzpflanzenwissenschaften” (the science of useful plants). Klemens’ turned 21 in 2019, the year his father died. He spend the summer on the farm, and the winter in Vienna. His employees took care of pruning the trees and the other winter work, enabling Klemens to pursue his studies.

In the past, Campan Farm was a livestock farm with a focus on fattening up bulls. Until 1996 – when they switched to farming vegetables (primarily seed potatoes and beetroot) and selling silage maize. They already had between 2 and 3 hectares of apples, which they sold at the fruit auction. When the seed-producing cooperative closed and they no longer had buyers for their seed potatoes, they made the almost 100% switch to apples. Almost, because they devoted some fields to strawberries and courgettes.

Today, Klemens cultivates apples on a total of 21 hectares. Royal Gala, Bonita, Topaz and a few other varieties. All organic – from the very beginning. This normal for Klemens; he grew up with it.

The apple orchards are directly adjacent to the farm. This simplifies the workflows and prevents spray drift. Two key factors for successful organic cultivation.
On Klemens’ farm, the apples are harvested with small trains carrying different boxes for different apple qualities: table apples that are sold as such and apples that are earmarked for processing. Everything in only one round. A stacker loads the full boxes directly onto the lorries, which then bring them to the cooperative. Directly to Biosüdtirol.

And as we walk through the inner courtyard, excited geese run towards us, cackling loudly and puffing out their chests. “They are happy if they can get newcomers to run away from them, if they can successfully defend their territory,” said Klemens with a laugh. Sort of like the knights used to do. Back in the days when apple cultivation was part of the distant future.