A house for regional products

Short description

The Bamberg-House in Wolfsberg (Carinthia) shall be transformed into a marketing place for regional producers - “the house of the region”. Therefore, some of the premises will be extensively renovated and adapted to their future purpose as wine house and shop.

Point of departure

The “Bamberg-House” is property of the public utility company (Stadtwerke) of Wolfsberg and has been used as office building for municipal employees until very recently. In 2015 all offices have been relocated and the building has been unoccupied since then. As a result of this situation the Mayor had asked the local citizens for suggestions regarding the redevelopment and reutilization of the “Bamberg-House”. This was the start of the project “The House of the Region”.
What problems shall this project address?
The city of Wolfsberg, similar to other towns in rural areas, is currently facing the problem of a progressively perishing city center. More and more shops are being closed. The “Bamberg-House” is located right in the middle of the historic city Centre of Wolfsberg. Its renovation and future reutilization would contribute to the continuous revitalization of the inner city. The House of the Region shall not just attract local citizens but also tourists. The marketing platform shall in particular give small direct marketers the opportunity to present and sell their products. To date there is no such platform existent in this region.

This project definitely supports the movement towards a more origin oriented approach, attaching more importance to regional and local food and products. The awareness rising activities (mainly on regionality) will particularly target preschool children, as children are the consumers of tomorrow!

Targets and target groups

Targets: Achieve a high regard for “regionality” and support the local producers.
Target groups: locals, tourists, educational institutions: children, schools and adolescents; event participants, organizations, interested parties; future users for the event room (companies, associations, local groups)

Project implementation and measures

·         Room adjustment and interior design: The two-story “Bamberg-House” has a total ground floor area of 290 square meters (corridors and foyer included). On this ground floor a shop for products from the region and the Lavanttal-Valley as well as a wine house will be created. For this reason, certain interior walls have to be removed and furthermore the original archs will be uncovered.

·         Marketing platform for winemakers from the Lavanttal-Valley: The wine shop provides room for the presentation and marketing of wine and wine products produced by winemakers from the region.

The participating winemakers from the Lavanttal-Valley get the opportunity to present their farm, farm products and business philosophy by designing their own so-called “Product-Island” (Themeninsel).

·         Marketing platform for direct marketers from the region: Next to the winemakers from the Lavanttal-Valley, also direct marketers from the region get the possibility to increase their sales by offering their products at the House of the Region. The product assortment mainly consists of food, e.g.: home-made pasta, cereals and products thereof, jam, honey, nuts, oils, sauces and dips, pesto variations, liquors, noble spirits, must, herbs, tee varieties, seasonal products (pumpkin,  asparagus, …)

·         Co-operation with the museum at the „Lavant-House “: The special exhibition 2016, entitled “Old love newly discovered – Viticulture in the Lavanttal-Valley” and various installations addressing the multisensory perception, give the visitors of all ages a better understanding of the viticulture in the Lavanttal-Valley and its history.
·         Extension of the cultural and tourism services by providing entertainment and service packages for groups: Combined company visits and product tastings will be offered to tourists. Generally, the offered service packages can be arranged individually. They can also include sightseeing tours (monastery) and exhibition visits as well as vineyard hikes etc. The project definitely contributes to the enrichment of the regional cultural and tourism services.

·         Awareness-raising activities (majorly on regionality): Thematic workshops will be offered for preschool and primary school children in collaboration with regional producers. The workshops and tastings will be held at the event hall of the Bamberg-House.

·         Utilisation of the event hall at the Bamberg-House: The event hall on the first floor of the building shall be the future location for tastings offered to larger groups (eventually also in presence of the producers). Furthermore, the spacious hall shall also be used for different events as f.ex. for holding receptions, thematic presentations and workshops.

·         House of the Region: Public image and marketing activities

 

Erfahrung

This project targets the entire population of the Lavanttal-Valley. Its realization would not have been possible without the close cooperation of the various project partners. It became evident that the well-functioning collaboration is an essential factor for the project’s success.