Aries Hotel
The Widder Hotel is a hotel in the old town of Zurich. It is housed in eight listed, formerly independent buildings from the Middle Ages . It is also a member of The Leading Hotels of the World and Swiss Deluxe Hotels . The owner is Ihag Holding , which is part of Swiss Life .
The then Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft (today UBS), building contractor and owner of the property, developed the project over a 10-year renovation period that preceded the opening of the Widder Hotel in 1995. The Swiss architect Tilla Theus was responsible for the project . The conversion was planned and implemented by the Karl Steiner Group . The renovation and restoration of the medieval properties had a formative influence on the Augustinian quarter.
The hotel owes its name to the Zunft zum Widder. One of the houses that belongs to the hotel has been the guild house of the Widder Guild since 1401. This house on Rennweg 1 houses the Widder Restaurant, where the guilders can enjoy festive occasions such as B. meet the Zurich Sechseläuten today. A permanent exhibition in the hotel reminds of the tradition of this guild with its collection of historical butcher's tools.
history
The aim of transforming the historic houses into a hotel ensemble was to make their more than 700-year history tangible or to keep it visible. In addition to guilds, they were once a living environment for nobles as well as craftsmen and merchants who used, changed and decorated the houses on Rennweg as well as in Widder- and Augustinergasse over the centuries. Accordingly, the 49 rooms and suites of the hotel, all of which are unique, have original historical traces from the Gothic , Renaissance and early Baroque periods , including wall paintings and stucco . These residential elements mark the style and wealth of an owner class that was successful in trade and commerce. From the 17th to the 19th century, Rennweg in the Augustinerquartier, where the main entrance to the hotel is located, was known as one of the most representative shopping streets in Zurich.
building
Today's Widder Hotel comprises the following eight listed buildings:
- «Widder» (Rennweg 1): in the possession of the butchers since 1401, it was built from scratch in 1533. The grisaille paintings on the walls of the former guild hall can now be seen in one of the guest rooms.
- "Tatzfuss" (Rennweg 3): An extension of the 3-storey stone building in the 13th century was followed by use by guild masters of wool weavers, carpenters and tailors from the 14th to the 16th century.
- "Pipe" (Rennweg 5): residence of a wine merchant in the 12th and 13th centuries.
- "Erzberg" (Rennweg 7): The 4-storey stone house dates from the middle of the 13th century and was converted into a modern residential and commercial building with an office before 1623 by the furrier HH Berger. The house got its current name from the butcher family Erzli, who lived there in the 16th century.
- "Kleiner Widder" (Widdergasse 4): The smallest of the houses belonging to the hotel ensemble was added in the 14th century in the gap between Rennweg 1 and Widdergasse 6.
- «Haus zum Bauknecht» (Widdergasse 6): Built around 1300, this core building is a rare witness of a medieval architectural style thanks to its preserved ceiling construction with saddle wood and joists. From the 14th to 17th centuries, the guild masters of the Widder and the Combing Guild were the owners, and from the 17th century wealthy merchants who gave the house a baroque look.
- «Steinhaus» (Augustinergasse 24): The later expanded core building from around 1200 was owned by the church in the 14th century. At that time it was called: "Ebtischinhus" ("Abbess's House") and then belonged to Weggen guild masters and merchants.
- «Wassermühle» (Augustinergasse 28): Elaborate paintings from the 16th to 18th centuries are traces of middle-class residents. A stuccoed "garden pavilion" was added to the core structure in the 17th century.
Todays use
The Widder Hotel is a five-star hotel with 42 rooms and seven suites, three restaurants, a garden and a library. In the interior, design classics by Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier as well as a modern art collection with works by Robert Rauschenberg , Max Bill and Andy Warhol contrast with the historical heritage of the hotel. Original furniture and lamps by the architect Adolf Loos from the Villa Schwarzwald in Vienna characterize the Loos-Stube, one of the hotel's eight conference rooms. International jazz stars perform under wooden ceiling beams from 1291 in the Widder Bar in two annual series of concerts ; another specialty of the bar is its selection of more than 300 single malt whiskeys.
According to the US magazine Forbes Traveler , the Widder Hotel is one of the ten best luxury hotels in Switzerland . In the hotel rating of the business magazine Bilanz , the Widder Hotel was ranked fourth among the best city hotels in Switzerland in 2015.
literature
- Widder Hotel - Augustinerquartier: Exemplary refurbishment of a Zurich old town. K. Steiner General Contractor, Zurich, 1995, ISBN 978-3952077108
Web links
Individual evidence
- The Widder Hotel in the old town of Zurich , TURICUM magazine, volume 26, no. 4, August / September 1995, Zürichsee magazine publisher
- ↑ UBS is selling the "Aries". In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung online, August 31, 2018.
- ↑ Monument Preservation Inventory of the City of Zurich ( Memento of the original from October 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The ten best luxury hotels in Switzerland. ( Memento of the original from September 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. bluewin.ch, November 24, 2008.
- ↑ “The balance sheet determines the 50 best Swiss hotels” , pressetext.schweiz, 13 August 2015
Coordinates: 47 ° 22 '21 " N , 8 ° 32' 23.2" E ; CH1903: 683165 / 247434