Hotel Schweizerhof

About the building

Leaving Bern station, you see the Hotel Schweizerhof on the other side of the square. Its history goes back further than the present house: in 1857 a hotel opened here under the name "Hotel Fetzer". In 1859 Daniel Vogel gave it the name Schweizerhof and combined it with the neighbouring Zähringerhof.

From 1881 to 1897 the hotel belonged to the Hauser brothers, a family of hoteliers from Wädenswil. In 1911 the old building was demolished. The new building was put up by a consortium of hotel and brewery specialists and opened on 1 July 1913, already then with the Bel Etage and the Salon Trianon ballroom. The sources available do not name its architect.

A well-known period began in 1939, when Jack Gauer took over the management; the name of the brasserie in the house recalls him. In the 1950s many famous people stayed here, among them Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Ustinov and Albert Schweitzer. From the 1960s until 1976 Ernesto Schlegel ran the kitchen.

In 2009 a two-year conversion began, after which the hotel reopened on 24 June 2011. The façade, with carved coats of arms above its slender windows, was restored at the same time. In 2008 a sovereign wealth fund from Qatar acquired the house; today the Schweizerhof belongs to the Bürgenstock Selection and to the hotel group Leading Hotels of the World. The building is listed in the inventory as a cultural property of regional or local importance.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Wikipedia (de): Hotel Schweizerhof (Bern) · Historic Hotels Then and Now: Hotel Schweizerhof Bern · Famous Hotels: Schweizerhof · Journal des Palaces: Bern's iconic luxury hotel re-opens (2011) · Wikidata: Q55505690