About 20,000 households in the Murtal were without electricity on Sunday night. No light, no hot water and often no mobile network. The “crown” on site in dark Upper Styria. Some enjoyed the medieval comeback, while farmers faced new challenges in milking. Shortly before 5pm the light returned!
“Unbelievable, 40 centimeters of snow has fallen in eight hours,” says Klaus Bischof and sits down on the corner sofa, where the cat has already made himself comfortable and is purring contentedly to himself. The Bischof family in Reifling near Judenburg is one of about 20,000 households that had to spend the night without electricity on Sunday. No light, no hot water, sometimes no telephone network. The bishops enjoyed the wonderful white night in the warm room with a wood stove. “A winter like back then,” says Klaus Bischof, who runs a small part-time farm with his wife Karin.
An Advent wreath served as a light source in the living room. “We lit it on Saturday – a day earlier than planned – and sat together and talked and laughed. It was a nice evening, my brother came too.” TV, internet, it works without it too. “Only now could it work again soon,” laughs daughter Eli, who admits to “Krone” that she experienced mild “withdrawal symptoms” during a local inspection on Sunday morning.
The silent, magical winter world without electricity also had something pleasant for the bishops: they did not have to get up as early as usual. “We usually go to the stable around five in the morning for milking. But that’s not possible without light, so we’ll leave later today.”
Memories of Peter Rosegger
Without electricity there is no milking machine. So yesterday we milked by hand like we used to. There are three cows and two horses in the Bischof stable – not far away is the Muhr farm. Manual labor won’t get you far with 70 cows. An emergency generator helped the farmer out of trouble with the white gold from his cows. Four of them were used in the area and the farmers passed them on so that everyone could do their work.
While pink-cheeked children thoroughly enjoyed the winter landscape, reminiscent of Peter Rosegger’s stories from the forest house, about fifty men worked up the mountain to restore the electricity grid in the dark Murtal. “We worked all night long,” says Peter Hopf, who supported Energie Steiermark with the necessary machines in the difficult terrain. Only tea in the morning warmed the tireless brownies at sunrise.
When Krone visited, the entourage had almost completed the work. “If nothing else comes up, electricity will finally be available again in two to three hours,” says a technician from Energie Steiermark as an improvised electricity pole is being built behind him. Behind this lies the ‘culprit’ who catapulted the Murtal back into the Dark Ages for one night: the 110 kW strong mast collapsed like a match through the masses of snow. It stood in the beautiful winter landscape like a weeping willow after a lightning strike.
Shortly before 5 p.m. on Sunday it finally happened again: the Murtal had power again.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
