A taste of Austria
Portsmouth — Austrian products in downtown Portsmouth?
Yes — thanks to Sonja Echt, who opened Edelweiss last week.
The official grand opening will be held on Friday and Saturday, complete with refreshments, including champagne and goodies.
Echt met her husband, a physics professor at the University of New Hampshire, when she was still working and living in Innsbruck, in the Austrian region of Tirol. In fact, Echt was her future husband’s landlord.
The two fell in love and for some years it was a commuter marriage. Echt, who was a psychotherapist in Austria, said she was ready for a change.
“What is better than to move to this beautiful state and open a store where I can share all that is good from Austria?” Echt asked.
In addition to all things Austrian, Echt also carries some gift items from Germany and Italy. In Portsmouth, it seems, all things global become local.
“I chose the name Edelweiss because of our special flower and the song from ‘The Sound of Music,'” explained Echt. “This flower, the song and Mozart are what we share in common with this country.”
Echt now lives in Dover with her husband and is fully engrossed in her retail venture at the Vaughan Mall. Her parents had a gift shop in Innsbruck, so she spent many years as a child in that environment.
Don’t let this fool you, however. When you walk into the shop, Echt has a sofa littered with books on Freud.
“It is my work and my little joke — the couch and Freud,” she said. “I like this, and my customers can read and buy my books.”
