Hotel Limmathof

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Hotel Limmathof

The Hotel Limmathof is a former hotel in Baden in the canton of Aargau . It stands on the Limmat promenade in the bathing quarter , close to the river Limmat . The listed building is a cultural asset of regional importance and an outstanding example of 19th century Swiss spa architecture .

building

Main building (left) and branch with pub sign
Key emblem
Connection gallery

The powerful-looking, strictly classical building stands between the Mercier footbridge and the former inhalatorium . At a height of 21 meters, it shapes the silhouette of the spa district at a crucial point. The front facing the river, which consists of thirteen symmetrical window axes , a striking transverse gable and a hipped roof , contributes in particular to this . The four floors rise above a basement .

The basement, which contains the hotel's own bathrooms, is located underground on the side facing away from the river, while it opens up on the lower side of the river as a ground floor with large rectangular windows. A strong cornice separates it from the two middle floors. Another cornice extends between the third and fourth floors. Double pilaster strips delimit the five central axes, which together with the transverse gable form a risalit . The gable field is highlighted with serliana and lunette windows . The building edges are distinguished by fine squares. A terrace extends along the first floor (built in 1910, extended to the entire width in 1965). The back facing Kurplatz and Limmatpromenade is structured in a similar way, with the middle section also having an additional risalit. Overall, the design language corresponds to that of a small villa that has been transferred to a large scale.

A two-story connecting gallery leads across the Limmat promenade to the dependance. It has a shingled base zone, Tuscan wooden pilasters and a tooth cut . A wrought-iron tavern sign from the mid-18th century hangs on it. The east facade of the dependance is almost a mirror image of the west facade of the Limmathof, except that the building is one floor lower and the wing buildings are only single-axis. On the narrow north side, facing the Kurplatz, there is a polygonal balcony built over four Doric columns and a terrace designed as a portico . A key emblem from around 1770 hangs on an artistically forged rococo support, but it was not attached to the building until 1960.

history

The forerunner of the Limmathof was the “zum Schlüssel” inn, consisting of two parallel, interconnected wings. Although the inn did not have its own baths, from 1377 it was the only inn in the bathing settlement to have the privilege of catering to walk-in customers and guests from other houses. From 1404 to 1647 the key was owned by the city. The spring of the Limmat, known since the late 15th century, poured directly into the river and was taken in the winter of 1828/29 at the instigation of the canton. The then owner of the inn, City Councilor Bartholomäus Nieriker, successfully made claims on the thermal water obtained. In 1833 he planned to build a new hotel, which aroused fierce opposition from the bathers in Ennetbaden . After the intervention of the cantonal building commission, cantonal builder Franz Heinrich Hemmann undertook an extensive revision of the project. After a relatively short construction period, the new building was completed in spring 1834 and opened as the Hotel Limmathof.

In 1846, Nieriker had the Limmathof branch built on the other side of the street with the tavern “zum golden Schlüssel”, including a connecting gallery. In 1910, the hotel underwent a substantial renovation, and other minor renovations were added between 1956 and 1972. The foyer on the ground floor and the hall on the first floor were restored in 1987. The exterior of the Limmathof and the aforementioned interiors have been a listed building since 1989. The hotel stood empty in the 1990s and was remodeled in 2000/01. The listed interior was restored and apartments were built on the upper floors. There was also a restaurant and a wellness area in the historic bathing chambers of the building base. The "Limmathof Baden Hotel & Private Spa" on the other bank of the Limmat, which continues to offer hotel rooms, has been part of the business since 2011. Both parts are connected by the Mercier bridge.

Movie and TV

The Limmathof has been the scene of film and television productions several times. In 1993 the murder scene of the film Justice by Hans W. Geißendörfer was filmed in the neo-baroque hall . In 1999 the same hall served as the backdrop for the film Comedian by Markus Imboden . After all, scenes for an episode of the crime series The Undertaker were created here in 2015 .

literature

Web links

Commons : Hotel Limmathof  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Myriam Gessler: The baths of Baden: Legal freedom . In: Yearbook . tape 20 . Swiss Society for Economic and Social History, Bern 2007, p. 71 .
  2. ↑ After Baden to the undertaker: weekend top tip 190. travel.tele.ch, January 29, 2016, accessed on May 5, 2017 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 28 '49 "  N , 8 ° 18' 50"  E ; CH1903:  665971  /  259188