In the Dachstein region

Bodo Hell disappeared: Alpine farmers fear for poet

Bodo Hell is considered to be particularly hospitable. Hikers regularly come up to him.

(Bild: Peter Gruber)

Bodo Hell has been missing since Friday. Mountain rescuers, police and alpine farmers are still desperately searching for him in the Dachstein region, where many people have grown fond of him as a dairyman. The 81-year-old Viennese is considered one of the most original writers in our country.

Bodo Hell has spent every summer at the Grafenbergalm in the Dachstein region since the late 1970s. The famous writer (see below) is also a great animal lover - around 80 cattle, as well as sheep and horses, were once again under his care this year.

In the past few weeks, guests from the surrounding area have been stopping by almost every day, as several neighbors told us on Monday. Hell often served them homemade goat's cheese and pumpkin seed oil in the rustic hut. But since the weekend, these memories have been overshadowed by great worries.

Bodo Hell looks after 80 to 90 cattle in the summer.

(Bild: Feichtlhof)

The 81-year-old was last seen on Friday morning between the Grafenbergalm and the Helibronnerkreuz - he wanted to look after his cattle. But he apparently never came back. Because an acquaintance couldn't reach him on the hut phone, he became alert. "He's been out every day for over 50 years, but he's very reliable," explains a neighbor of the hut.

Tens of helpers on site
And so a large-scale search operation was launched on Sunday, which continued on Monday. "On the Styrian side, around 80 Alpine rescue teams have been on site since the early hours of the morning," reported Enrico Radaelli, spokesman for the Styrian Mountain Rescue Service. The Upper Austrian colleagues were also called in; helicopters and search dogs were used. "Hut owners are being questioned, summit books are being searched and acquaintances are being contacted. But the Dachstein area is very extensive," says Radaelli. The alpine farmers took part in the search.

Tens of mountain rescuers and a dog team are on site.

(Bild: Bergrettung Steiermark)

Tens of mountain rescuers and dog teams are on site.

(Bild: Bergrettung Steiermark)

Tens of mountain rescuers and dog teams are on site.

(Bild: Bergrettung Steiermark)

The search had to be interrupted on Monday afternoon due to a thunderstorm. The search operation on the high plateau of the Dachstein plateau will be resumed on Tuesday morning. He is still believed to be on the Upper Austrian side of the Dachstein area.

Bodo Hell

Die Biografie eines vielfach prämierter Dichters und Denkers

Bodo Hell had to be 80 years old to receive the Austrian State Prize for Literature in 2023. It took him another year longer to be honored with the Styrian Literature Prize this year.

Born in Salzburg on March 15, 1943, the versatile artist, thinker and writer (he studied organ, film, philosophy, history and German language and literature) has close ties to Styria. Not only through his work as a dairyman on the Grafenbergalm, which he has been doing since the 1970s, but also through Droschl Verlag, where he publishes the majority of his works (most recently "begabte bäume" last year). And then there are his numerous readings at kunsthaus muerz, eisenz*ART and the Graz Literaturhaus.

The 81-year-old has a heart for animals.

(Bild: Mayr)

Bodo Hell is not only an extraordinary person, his literature is also anything but ordinary. He approaches the core of his stories with an encyclopaedic knowledge and always manages to cast them in a language that is as unique as it is poetic. And there is no shortage of wit and irony. This has earned him a number of prestigious awards, including the Rauris Literature Prize, the Erich Fried Prize and the Christine Lavant Prize.