Gstaad Palace

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Gstaad Palace
Gstaad Palace, around 1994

The Gstaad Palace is a hotel in Switzerland . It is located on a hill above Gstaad in the Swiss Alps . The Gstaad Palace opened on December 8, 1913 and is now one of the last family-run five-star superior hotels in Europe owned by the Scherz family.

The Gstaad Palace belongs to the hotel group “ The Leading Hotels of the World ” and to the “Swiss Deluxe Hotels”.

history

Certificate for 10 ordinary shares of SA Royal Hôtel, Winter & Gstaad Palace dated June 19, 1936

In 1905 Robert Steffen (1878–1923) acquired the first parcels on the Oberbort, the best location in Gstaad, and looked for investors in western Switzerland. On December 15, 1911, the “Royal Hotel, Winter & Gstaad Palace” company was founded. Steffen transferred the land to her in exchange for a share of 18%.

The hotel was built between 1911 and 1913. The project by architects Adrien van Dorsser (1866–1957) and Charles-François Bonjour (1870–1961) devoured an investment of 2.5 million francs .

On December 8, 1913, the Palace Hotel opened under the management of the directors Albert Steudler and Hans Pünter. The house has 250 beds in 165 rooms, 70 of which have their own bathroom. With 20 additional storey bathrooms, central heating and an in-house telegraph operator, investors are banking on luxury for the highest demands.

To attract additional guests, a tennis tournament was held for the first time in the summer of 1915, from which the Swiss Open Gstaad emerged. The house also had its own curling rink.

Director Wilhelm Michel retired in the spring of 1939. Ernst and Silvia Scherz-Bezzola began their work as successors as early as autumn 1938, so that a smooth change of direction could be ensured.

During the Second World War , the number of overnight stays fell by half. As a precaution, the Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft had a massive safe-protection room built under the palace terrace in 1939/40. If business offices closer to the border had to be abandoned, the bank management would have quartered in the Palace. Among other things, gold was stored.

After the war, the number of guests increased and in 1947 reached the pre-war level again. In September, the founding congress of the “Union parlementaire européenne”, one of the predecessor organizations of the Council of Europe , took place in the hotel .

In 1968 the directors Ernst and Silvia Scherz-Bezzola handed over the management of the hotel to their son Ernst Andrea and his wife Shiwa. Ernst Andrea Scherz systematically expanded the hotel infrastructure. In 1969/70 an indoor swimming pool with outdoor facilities, sauna and health center was built. On January 22, 1971 the nightclub "GreenGo" was opened. The original equipment of this club comes from Teo Jakob and has remained the same to this day.

In 2001 Andrea Scherz took over the general management. The Palace AG became a family holding company in 2003.

In 2007 the Palace Spa was opened. The hotel has been heated with renewable energy from local wood since 2008. The Gstaad Palace has been leasing an alpine hut on Alp Walig ob Gsteig / Feutersoey since 2009. To date, the Scherz family has invested over 100 million Swiss francs in enlarging and improving the hotel.

Famous guests

Elizabeth Taylor , Richard Burton , Grace Kelly , Roger Moore , Richard Gere , Princess Diana , Elton John , Rod Stewart and Madonna . Regular Michael Jackson even wanted to buy the whole hotel once, but his offer was turned down.

Movies

The Gstaad Palace has been the setting for many films. These include The Pink Panther Returns (1975), Snowboarder (2003), Christmas in Love (2004), Viaggio sola (2013), The Saint (2013) and Un nemico che ti vuole bene (2018). Even Bollywood productions were filmed at the Gstaad Palace: Sau Crore (1991), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) and Kurukshetra (2000).

literature

  • Catrina, Werner (2011). “100 years of Gstaad Palace”. (Co-author), Zurich, Orell Füssli-Verlag, 2013
  • Holenstein, Peter (1976). “… And every king is just one guest - The Palace in Gstaad”. Scherz Verlag, Bern / Munich 1982

Web links

Commons : Gstaad Palace  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner Catrina (co-author): 100 years of Gstaad Palace . Ed .: Gstaad Palace. 2nd Edition. Orell Füssli-Verlag, Zurich 2014, ISBN 978-3-280-05420-8 , pp. 202 .
  2. ↑ Peter Holenstein: … and every king is just one guest - The Palace in Gstaad . Scherz Verlag, Bern / Munich 1982.

Coordinates: 46 ° 28 '23.3 "  N , 7 ° 17' 22"  E ; CH1903:  five hundred and eighty-eight thousand five hundred forty-one  /  one hundred and forty-six thousand eight hundred seventy-nine