For over 300 years, since 1702, Gamsegghof farm in Melag has been in the Hohenegger family. The view from the window shows the beautiful further Langtauferertal valley with its glaciers, meadows and woods. It’s not just holiday guests who feel at home in the four spacious holiday flats set at 1,920m, but the Hohenegger family’s 70 goats, five cows and six geese, too - both in their newly built stalls and in their open-air runs. The centrepiece of the organic farm with its approximately ten hectares of meadows is the farm cheese dairy. This is where delicious cow’s and goat’s cheese made from raw milk is left to ripen, while Beatrix the farmer comes up with creative uses for the goose eggs.

Gently she opens up a chest of the feather-light delicacies. Beatrix Hohenegger came up with the idea of blowing out goose eggs, dipping them in bright colours and then adorning them with filigree patterns at some point during the winter, when there was less work to be done on the farm. “These impressive eggs are not just two to three times the size of normal hen’s eggs, but also have a thicker shell – perfect for engraving”, explains the hard-working farmer. She taught herself the technique with a lot of practice. “This type of detailed work has always interested me”, she states. Decorating eggs requires a steady hand, as well as a lot of patience and special flair for close work.

To the sound of soft whirring, decorations, flowers, meandering lines and meaningful sayings are conquered up as if by magic. “I prefer to get my motifs from nature”, says Beatrix Hohenegger. She uses a small engraving tool similar to a glass engraver for the eggs. “The knack is in getting the engraving regular. The finger pressure mustn’t be too light or too strong, otherwise it quickly makes a hole”, adds the farmer. Rounding, which is what makes the work so challenging, also requires a certain flair. “It is best to draw a line in one go”, says Hohenegger. She thinks up the patterns in her head beforehand, so that she can get on with it quickly. What fascinates her is the amount of things that can be portrayed on such a small surface area.

In the end, no two eggs are the same. It takes between one and two hours to create these little one-offs, depending on how detailed the ornament it. The final touches to the delicately patterned eggs are made with a bit of milk grease, giving them a silky sheen, and a small seal. The farmer is happy to engrave personal messages into goose eggs on request as a momento, small personal touch, or special present. These engraved works of art have a particular meaning for Beatrix Hohenegger. The artisan is convinced that “eggs are the symbol of life and are in season all year round for me, not just at Easter”.