Edén Hotel
The Edén-Hotel in the Argentine town of La Falda is now a largely derelict former luxury hotel . Its existence in the first half of the 20th century meant that the place in the Valle de Punilla developed into a summer vacation spot for the Argentine high society . Back then, “people” stayed in the world-famous luxury hotel for weeks with the whole family, including chauffeurs and nannies.
Laying of the foundation stone
On August 19, 1897, the German immigrant and former officer Robert Bahlcke acquired the estancia "La Falda de la Higuera" in cooperation with investors in order to build a hotel with all the luxury and comfort of the time. The 900-hectare site was deliberately chosen because of its scenic beauty and the healthy climate suitable for curing tuberculosis , but also because of its location on an existing railway line. Since it opened on December 26, 1898, with its own power supply and even ice machines , the hotel has been visited by the Argentine upper class . The project went bankrupt in 1905 and after a few years under the management of Ernesto Tornquist or his bank, it was sold to one of the earlier investors, Maria Herbert von Kräutner, who had since withdrawn. This in turn sold it in 1912 to the brothers Bruno and Walter Eichhorn from Leipzig before returning to the German Empire .
The brothers divided the huge area into plots and stipulated certain usage conditions for part of the site, such as the train station, the central plaza, the church, the school, the police and the bank, before they transferred these parts to the municipality. Little by little they sold the remaining land for settlement in order to repay the mortgage taken out for the takeover . The parcels measured at the time (argent .: lotes) can still be seen in the city map. From 1914 onwards, the town of La Falda began to emerge, partly in a deliberately (Middle) European style. The hotel and the city experienced a rapid upswing, benefiting from the upper class's limited opportunities to travel abroad as a result of the First World War .
The local historian Carlos Panozzo wrote about the first years of the two Germans:
- “Con don Walter y doña Ida llegaron también Bruno Eichhorn, el hermano de Walter, y su mujer, y los cuatro se encargaron de impulsar el negocio. Ida y Walter vivían in a chalet detrás del hotel. Fue su llegada la que movilizó todo esto. La Falda es, en buena medida, un subproducto de los Eichhorn y del Edén ”.
- (Bruno Eichhorn, Walter's brother, and his wife also came with Mr. Walter and Mrs. Ida; and the four dedicated themselves to the business. Ida and Walter lived in a villa behind the hotel. It was their arrival that mobilized all of this. " La Falda ”is, to a large extent, a product of the Eichhorns and the“ Eden ”.)
Hoard of the chiceria
In its heyday under the Eichhorns, in the 1920s and 1930s, the hotel comprised around 100 rooms and 38 suites with bathrooms and central heating as well as a large dining room for 250 people. Children and staff dined in an adjoining room. A ballroom with parquet flooring, a bar and a lecture / writing room as well as a winter garden, hairdressing salons, etc. completed the luxury furnishings, which also included marble stairs and furniture in Art Nouveau style imported from Europe .
The main building was surrounded by an area of eleven hectares. An own farm ensured the supply of meat, vegetables and fruits. There was also self-sufficiency for water and electricity. First-class horse stables for rides and polo games, a large pool area, a tennis facility and an 18-hole golf course were used for the leisure enjoyment of the distinguished society.
Poets, philosophers, artists, politicians and farm owners lived in Edén. These included Albert Einstein , Rubén Darío , the Prince of Wales , the Spanish and Italian Crown Prince, and Argentine Presidents Julio Argentino Roca and Figueroa Alcorta . Even the later Cuban revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara , who grew up in Córdoba , is listed as a guest in the hotel annals - the doctor's son, suffering from asthma, apparently came to the mountains of La Falda as a child because of the good climate.
In the 1930s, further renovations and extensions took place: several separate chalet- style guest houses were built on the hotel grounds and an ice rink, a swimming pool and a small theater were built.
In 1934 La Falda became an independent municipality.
A report by the cultural committee of the Argentine parliament on the occasion of the declaration of the ex-hotel as a national cultural monument (year unknown) describes the zeitgeist around Edén:
- "It innegable que el hotel es la expresión de la manera de ser de una clase dirigente que inició emprendimientos grandiosos, con vistas al futuro que imaginaba grandioso, en aquel marco irrepetible de la cultura del siglo XIX, cuya fe en el progreso era tan desmedida como su culto al pasado, romántico y seguro. Resultado de esa combinación de sutilezas, la Argentina, que era el granero del mundo y la tierra prometida de los inmigrantes europeos, pero también destino turístico exótico. "
- (It is undeniable that the hotel is an expression of the manner in which a ruling class embarks on grandiose projects with an eye to the future. This notion of size is a unique part of nineteenth century culture where belief in the Progress was as pronounced as adoration of the past, romance as well as security. As a result of this combination of subtleties, Argentina is both the breadbasket of the world and the promised land of European immigrants, but also an exotic travel destination.)
After the end of the Second World War , an initially gradual decline set in when the social framework for tourism began to change in Argentina as well. After the Eichhorns withdrew, there were several changes of ownership until the hotel finally experienced its final season in 1965.
chronology
1897: On August 19, Robert Bahlcke buys 900 hectares of the farmland "La Falda de La Higuera", located in "el Valle de Punilla" around 600 meters away from a railway line. On August 24th he also bought an area of 6 hectares as a connection to the railway line with the aim of being able to receive hotel guests here later. Juan Kurth from Bern and Maria Herbert von Kräutner take part in the project.
1898: The hotel welcomes its first guests in December. At this point in time, a good half of the hotel is still in the construction phase.
1899: Due to the high interest on the loans taken out in 1898, the hotel is converted into a public limited company. A large part of the capital is provided by the banker and investor Ernesto Tornquist.
1902: Maria Herbert von Kräutner withdraws from the project.
1905: The organization has a loss of around 75 percent and the shareholders decide to dissolve.
1911: Maria Herbert von Kräutner acquires the hotel and the “La Falda” property from the investor Ernesto Tornquist.
1912: The brothers Walter and Bruno Eichhorn purchase the “La Falda” and “Eden Hotel” land from Maria Herbert von Kräutner for 450,000 Pesos by taking out a mortgage against her.
1913–1915 : In order to pay off the existing mortgages, part of the land is split up into parcels and sold. The first sale of parcels was recorded for September 12, 1914. In the following years, some of the hotel guests also acquired parcels in order to build upscale holiday and weekend homes on them.
1918 and 1919: The Eichhorns acquire further sections of land and thus enlarge the total area of the area belonging to the hotel.
1920: The Eichhorns pay off the last mortgage to Maria Herbert von Kräutner and acquire full ownership of the hotel.
c. 1925: Walter Eichhorn and his wife traveled to Germany several times in the mid-1920s, where they met Adolf Hitler and became his admirers.
1945: After Argentina declared war on Germany on March 27, 1944, the Argentine state confiscated the hotel complex. The fact that the Eichhorns were known as active patrons of Adolf Hitler may have played a role in this. In the same year the hotel is used as a luxury prison for Japanese diplomats .
1947: The hotel is given back to the owners by Juan Peron . However, they then sell it and withdraw from the public.
1965: The hotel closes forever.
1988: The regional authorities declare the remains of the Hotel Eden a monument.
1998: After the bankruptcy of its last Argentine owner, the site is awarded to the city of La Falda as compensation for the lost municipal taxes.
The hotel has been renovated since 2006 and serves as a museum. Admission including a guided tour is 50 Argentine pesos (2016). To date, however, only a very small part of the hotel has been renovated and many rooms are not accessible.
remains
In the park of the hotel there are still many pine trees imported from Germany and Austria and now defective water features and several fragile statues.
Today the ruin of the former magnificent building is a tourist magnet worth visiting . The Museo Arquelogico Argentino Ambato with a small café is located in its rooms . Celebrity photos from the time when large parties, evening dinners and teas were still held hang on the walls. The Edén Hotel is a symbol of past glamor and better times throughout Argentina.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Information about the history on the hotel website , accessed on June 25, 2016.
- ↑ a b c d Outline of the hotel's history , accessed on June 25, 2016.
Remarks
- ↑ different spelling: Balcke ; After the immigration, according to the hotel website, naturalization of the first name to Roberto
- ^ After the immigration, naturalization of the surname to Herbert de Kraeutner
Web links
- Pictures of the hotel
- Report of the cultural committee of the Argentine parliament on the occasion of the declaration of the ex-hotel as a national cultural monument
- TV documentary about the Eden Hotel and its links to National Socialism
Coordinates: 31 ° 5 ′ 30 ″ S , 64 ° 28 ′ 2.2 ″ W.