Hotel Bodenhaus
The Hotel Bodenhaus in Splügen in the Swiss canton of Graubünden is one of the oldest and most traditional hotels in the canton. The house stands below the reformed village church in a large square on the former main road.
history
Due to its location on the Splügen and San Bernardino passes, Splügen was an important transshipment point for goods that were transported through the Rhine Forest over the passes from the 15th to the 18th centuries . The transport of goods was the main source of income for the local population; most of them lived directly or indirectly from the mule being . In the village, the merchant families set up numerous large Susten to provide shelter and shelter for horses, carters and their goods.
On August 2, 1716, a large part of the village fell victim to a fire. Most of the houses were rebuilt in the same place in the same style, while others were built in a new location in a more modern style - including the Bodenhaus.
It was built in 1722 by the chief judge Johann Paul Zoja on a previously undeveloped, almost flat area. The name comes from the term "Bodä", which the German-speaking Walser used to designate a flat surface with almost square dimensions. The Zoja family had prospered through the transport of goods, trade, customs revenue and offices in the subject area Valtellina and belonged to the most influential families in the Rhine Forest.
The building still impresses today with its mighty, almost cubic shape with meter-thick walls and a low hipped roof . The interior was also divided into unusually large rooms. The Bodenhaus housed the post office and probably offered accommodation and meals for travelers from the very beginning. Its main purpose, however, was to store the goods that were transported in both directions over the passes. Grain, salt, butter and cheese, silk and damask , velvet and cotton, tools, armor, spices and paints were stored in the vaults and rooms of the Bodenhaus .
At the beginning of the 19th century, the mule tracks over the passes were turned into routes for carriages. Travel became more important, and the demand for accommodation for discerning guests increased. In 1822, the then owner of the Bodenhaus, Landamtmann Johann Jakob Hössli, began to convert the house into a hotel. To gain space, the old staircase in the area of today's lobby was torn down and the new staircase was moved to the north side. The large rooms on the floors were divided into rooms and furnished. The renovation should have taken several years.
Before long, well over a thousand overnight stays were recorded annually, and over time the number of travelers staying longer increased. From 1879 to 1882, the hotel pioneer Anton Bon ran the Bodenhaus together with his wife Maria.
After the opening of the Gotthard tunnel in 1882, the number of guests fell significantly. At the end of the 20th century, the Bodenhaus was in poor structural condition after various changes of ownership as well as renovations and additions. In 1999 it was bought by the Löschl-Burkhardt family, who reversed the building sins of the past and restored the building to its original appearance through the restrained use of local materials. The Bodenhaus has 26 rooms and offers catering in three restaurants.
Guest books
Guest books have been kept since 1828, which are among the oldest in the canton. Numerous personalities such as William Turner , Friedrich Nietzsche , Hans Christian Andersen , Albert Einstein , Napoleon III have entered it. or Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria . The books were kept until World War II and are privately owned. The second volume with the years 1845–1869 was stolen around 1950 and has never appeared again. The books are no longer accessible to the public because pages have been torn out from time to time.
Dependance
The building above the hotel at right angles to the square housed stables until around 1920, then the post office until 1964. It then housed the “Bodenhaus Bar” until around 1970. The region's tourist information office has been located there for around 20 years.
Web links
literature
- Eberhard Zangger and Regula Sigg: Splügen - Where paths meet ; Desertina publishing house, Chur 2005.
- Kurt Wanner: The “Bodenhaus” in Splügen; History and stories of a Graubünden hotel ; Splügen 1997.
Coordinates: 46 ° 33 '13.4 " N , 9 ° 19' 26.2" E ; CH1903: seven hundred forty-four thousand five hundred sixty-eight / 157564