Park Hotel Vitznau was published in 2013. It is a coffee table book about one of the most famous hotels in Switzerland.
The text is written by Andreas Augustin; many pictures (recent colour photographs) are taken by Michelle Chaplow, while historical research was conducted by Carola Augustin.
The hotel is located in the town of Vitznau, on the shores of Lake Lucerne, in the middle of Switzerland.
Vitznau is located at the foot of Mount Rigi, known as the Queen of Mountains, whose summit is 1,798 meters above sea level.
A cogwheel railway line, which ran for almost seven kilometers from Vitznau and almost all the way to the top of the famous mountain, was opened in 1871.
Construction of the Park Hotel in Vitznau began in 1900. Pfyffer Pension, which was built in 1866, was integrated into the new building. The Park Hotel opened in 1903.
In 2009, the Park Hotel was closed for a substantial renovation. Four years later, in 2013, it was ready to start a new chapter of its long life.
This beautiful book by Andreas Augustin, Michelle Chaplow, and Carola Augustin covers the history of the hotel during more than one hundred years, from 1903 until 2013.
The book begins with a preface by Andreas Augustin and ends with a list of references and sources. Sadly, there is no index of persons and places mentioned in the book.
The main text is divided into ten chapters which follow a (more or less) chronological line from the past to the present. Here are the headlines:
# 01. Where We Are
# 02. Meeting at the Summit
# 03. The Strangers: The Invention of Tourism
# 04. The Kiss of the Muse
# 05. The Great Hotels
# 06. Pension Pfyffer and Hôtel du Parc
# 07. Park Hotel: Building Excellence
# 08. 100 Years Old
# 09. Summer Retreat – Newly Defined
# 10. Modern Times – A Picture Essay
The man behind the Park Hotel in Vitznau is Anton Bon (1854-1915), who came from Ragaz.
Having bought Pension Pfyffer in 1892, he began to make some big plans for the future.
In 1900, he hired a famous architect Karl Gottlieb Koller (1873-1946), who also came from Ragaz, to design and build a new hotel for him.
Three years later, in 1903, the Park Hotel Vitznau was ready to open for business.
This five-star hotel is famous for two reasons:
# 1. It has a great location on the shores of Lake Lucerne and at the foot of Mount Rigi.
# 2. It was visited by famous and well-known people who came from all over the world to enjoy the wonderful panorama and the peaceful setting.
As stated above, this volume can be described as a coffee table book. It is published in a large format (22 x 30 cm) and lavishly illustrated with old pictures, posters, and paintings as well as recent colour photographs.
The text is well-written. The layout is reader-friendly with a good balance between text and illustrations. The history of the hotel is placed in a historical and geographical context.
If you are interested in tourism and travelling – in particular the history of famous hotels – this book is definitely something for you.
PS # 1. The following article is available online:
Nel-Oliva Waga, “Here is why Park Hotel Vitznau became Switzerland’s most exclusive hotel this year,” Forbes, 30 July 2020
PS # 2. Andreas Augustin has written several books about famous hotels, including the following:
** Sofitel Metropole in Hanoi (Vietnam) (2001)
** Das Sacher in Vienna (Austria) (2008)
** The Oriental in Bangkok (Thailand) (2013)
*****
Park Hotel Vitznau
By Andreas Augustin (text),
Michelle Chaplow (photographs), and
Carola Augustin (research)
Published by Famous Hotels in 2013
Format: 22 x 30 cm
232 pages
*****
Park Hotel Vitznau
Switzerland
*****
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