Kurhaus Bergün
The Kurhaus Bergün is located in Bergün / Bravuogn in the Albula Valley in the Swiss canton of Graubünden . It was opened in 1906 and is considered a well-preserved example of a hotel from the Art Nouveau era .
history
Beginnings
After the road was built between 1855 and 1858, the village of Bergün experienced a second development boost with the opening of the Albula line of the Rhaetian Railway, which went into operation in 1903 .
An initiative committee started planning a new hotel in the village. The Zurich architect Jost-Franz Huwyler-Boller (1874–1930) was commissioned with the design, and he also included the Cresta Palace Hotel in Celerina in the Engadine , which was built at the same time, on his list of references.
In the spring of 1906, the hotel started operations with 85 rooms and 120 beds. Bergün should become attractive as an acclimatization place for the higher Engadine and as a climatic health resort for tourism. For its time, the Kurhaus offered considerable comfort: "Central heating, electric light, elevator, bathroom, large dining room, several large terraces facing south, elegant vestibule, ladies' salon, spacious restaurants, bar, billiards, reading and writing room and darkroom" will be enumerated in advertising. Bathtubs and "water closets" were transported by train directly from England to Bergün and installed by the company's own fitters.
At Christmas 1911 the Kurhaus was also opened in winter for the first time; beforehand, a warm water central heating system was installed by the Davos company Oberrauch. The season lasted until mid-March. In the first winter season a room with two beds cost 7 francs; a breakfast 1.50 francs, a dinner 6 francs. The toboggan run from Preda to Bergün, which had already opened in winter 1904/05, and a large ice rink in front of the hotel for ice skating, ice hockey and curling served as an attraction .
However, the travelers drove straight to the Engadin; the stopover in Bergün from the age of the stagecoach was unnecessary, and the doctors recommended several days to acclimate to the heights was only made by a few. The new Kurhaus had to struggle with difficulties right from the start; The company was burdened with debts of 73,000 francs.
New use
After a major fire in the attic on August 9, 1949, the hotel was closed. In a makeshift repair, the tower was left out and a fourth floor was added. The municipality bought the house and after the renovation sold it to the Association for Family Hostels , which successfully ran the hotel as a holiday home after 1952. Two or three hotel rooms were combined into 34 holiday apartments, equipped with a small kitchen and rented out on a weekly basis. Most of the common rooms on the ground floor, such as the restaurant, bar, reading and billiard rooms, have also been converted into apartments. Group accommodations for school classes have been set up in the large hall and in the cinema.
In the following 50 years, however, the maintenance of the house was neglected: parts of the facade began to crumble and the roof began to leak.
today
In June 2002 some regular guests founded the “Kurhaus Bergün AG”, which bought the Hotel und Umschwung for 1.5 million francs in the same year. Since then, the building has been carefully restored under the direction of the Sissach architect Heini Dalcher. Since numerous parts of the original building, such as floors, panels and doors, were covered by cladding that was added later, they were preserved there and could largely be exposed or returned to their original state; Little of the original substance of the Kurhaus was destroyed. Further furnishings and furniture were found in the attic, where they were kept for 50 years.
The general rooms on the ground floor were gradually restored to their original purpose. The 230 m² Art Nouveau dining room with its original windows and the repaired wall paneling as well as the various lights is one of the most valuable Art Nouveau halls in Switzerland. In 2010 the bar with the original seating niches and the cinema were put back into operation. The guest rooms from the first to the third floor have been equipped with modern bathrooms, while the rooms on the fourth floor have shared showers and toilets.
The original paintings are partly still hidden under a layer of white paint and only exposed in small windows. The woven rattan furniture was recreated in a family business in Vietnam based on the original.
In 2009 the Kurhaus Bergün was added to the circle of Swiss Historic Hotels; In 2012 it was named Historic Hotel of the Year for “the gradual and careful restoration of the hotel building and its interior fittings in accordance with monument preservation principles, after a unique wealth of original historical substance has stood the test of time”.
literature
- Roland Flückiger-Seiler: Kurhaus Bergün, Historic Hotel of the Year 2012 . Bergün 2012.
Web links
- Kurhaus Bergün
- icomos.ch: The historic hotel of the year 2012
- Heiner Oberer: A Sissacher in Bergün . Volksstimme from September 8, 2011 (PDF; 2.9 MB)
- Kurhaus Bergün on baukultur.gr.ch
Individual evidence
- ↑ Observer ( Memento of the original from January 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Members of the Board of Directors: Heini Dalcher (President), Roland Laube, Franziska Mattes-Laib, Giaco Schiesser , Christof Steiner
- ↑ Icomos ( Memento of the original from January 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 46 ° 37 '44.9 " N , 9 ° 44' 53.7" E ; CH1903: 776850 / one hundred and sixty-six thousand eight hundred thirteen