Schwarzhans House ​|​ Dalaas

This residential building, which is rather unusual for Klostertaler standards due to its architectural style, was likely built—like other buildings along the street—after the road was widened in the 1780s. Its exterior appearance has not changed significantly to this day. In the 19th century, a family named Fritz lived in this building, and they also ran a locksmith’s shop and an ironmongery . For this reason, the house was commonly known as“Schlossers.” Eduard Fritz was born here in 1865, and he went on to lead an extraordinary life. As a nine-year-old Swabian boy , he left his homeland for the first time for an extended period. His family later moved to Ludesch, where he spent his youth. Fascinated by distant lands since childhood, Fritz settled in 1897 in what was then the colony of German East Africa, now Tanzania. The family was expelled during World War I while his father was interned. After returning to Vorarlberg, the adventurer Fritz, at the age of 58, dared to make a fresh start once again. In 1923, he emigrated with his seven children to Argentina, where he passed away in 1953 at an advanced age. In his remarkable memoirs, which he titled*Nach der Sonnenseite*(*Towardthe Sunny Side*), he described his childhood home in Dalaas with the following words:

To the west of it, between Hannes and a mill, you can see—bordering the Mühlebach—a stone house built in the style of the Posthotel but somewhat smaller, with two upper stories. Like the mill, this house stands off the road. Between the windows of the upper floor, one can see the image of St. Joseph, and when I was little, one could see below it—that is, above the front door—a magnificent sign that read: “Johann Josef Fritz Locksmith and Ironworks.” […]

I was born in this beautiful house—where the rooms on the second floor were already wallpapered and had porcelain stoves—along with five other siblings, specifically in the paneled western room on the second floor.

On the first floor, in the eastern part of the house, was the mechanical workshop; in the western part, even before the hardware store was established, lived a haberdasher who occasionally went door-to-door selling his wares. Two other apartments were usually rented out to poor people. In Vorarlberg, such a “multi-family dwelling” is called a “Mangelburg.”