1875
Built in 1875 by the Prague section of the German-Austrian Alpine Club. Johann Stüdl created the building plan and determined the construction site on the Tabaretta ridge. Master builder Georg Pichler from Gomagoi worked on the refuge from May 1875. Thus, a small hut with 2 rooms was built at 3020 m, where up to 30 people could spend the night.
1875
The new hut was named after Julius von Payer, a well-known mountaineer and polar explorer who, as an Austrian officer, had explored and mapped the Ortler area between 1865 and 1868. The opening ceremonies lasted 3 days – from September 5th to 7th, 1875. Just one year after its opening, the first extension was carried out: an anteroom was added. Initially, it was purely a self-catering hut.
1885
In 1885, the hut was significantly expanded by adding a floor. From 1893 to 1894, another renovation was carried out. From 1887, the Payer Hut was managed, and in 1895, more than one thousand visitors were counted for the first time – exactly 1,012.
1908
The increasing number of visitors made another expansion necessary. In 1908/09, a large three-story building was erected: The "sleeping house" had 21 rooms with 48 beds, storage, a pantry, servants' and guides' quarters, a breakfast room, and a coffee kitchen. During the First World War, the hut served as a staging post for the summit garrison on the Ortler and then came into the possession of the Italian state at the end of the war. The Milan section of the Club Alpino Italiano took over the management of the hut.
1936
As early as 1936, the telephone was installed. In 1947, the older buildings burned down, presumably due
to a lightning strike; only the "sleeping house" built in 1909 remained, and its ground floor had to be
reorganized. The kitchen was added in 1949.
Renovation work was carried out in 1990 and 1994,
but
the building remained in its original condition.
2025
For the 150th anniversary of the Payer Hut, one looks back with pride on an eventful history. Despite two world wars, structural challenges, and climatic changes, the hut has always remained a place of encounter and new beginnings. Today, as then, it symbolizes pioneering spirit, endurance, and the fascination of the mountains.