Chronicle Schweizerhaus
Maloja
"Some mornings, as I gaze at the mountains for minutes before reaching for my paintbrush, I feel compelled to prostrate myself before them as before a multitude of altars erected under the sky" - this is how Giovanni Segantini enthusiastically, even reverently, describes his feelings at the sight of the landscape in front of his house. Guests can enjoy the same view from the Hotel Schweizerhaus just opposite, and many of our loyal guests have probably felt something similar when standing at the window of their room. The wide open valley with the jewel of Lake Sils, the imposing mountain backdrop and the pine and larch forests exert their magic on people who care about nature at all times of the day and in all seasons. What makes Maloja so special, however, is the light, which here, where the north meets the south, can have an almost mystical glow. This is probably what attracts many visitors here time and time again.
A hotel with a history
The Schweizerhaus actually has a history that goes back further than is usually the case with hotels. It originated from the former "Osteria vecchia", which was built as a hospice around 600 years ago. The "Osteria" was an inn, which was once a natural part of a pass, as after an arduous ascent from Bergell, men and horses or pack animals had to take a break and enjoy food and drink before continuing the long journey eastwards through the Engadin or after a few kilometers again over a pass, the Julier, to the north. A stop was also usually made before taking the steeply descending path into the Bergell valley.
The Maloja Pass was part of the Roman road network
The Maloja Pass, with a summit height of 1817m above sea level, is the lowest of the Swiss passes. The fact that it drops almost four hundred meters from the flat high valley of the Engadine to the first village of the Bergell, Casaccia, without any uphill gradient, is a topographical peculiarity that no other pass has. It is therefore not surprising that this crossing has been used since ancient times. Bowl or rune stones from pre-Christian times found near Maloja bear witness to this. However, the importance of the pass is underlined by one of the most interesting historical documents from Roman times, namely the "Itinerarium Antonini" from around 300 AD, which also lists the Maloja Pass with all the important roads of the empire, namely as part of the Rhaetian Alpine road between Bregenz and Milan with the stations Curia (Chur), Tinnetione (Tinzen), Muro (the fortified bottleneck Castelmur near Promontogno), Summolacu (Sommolaco) and Como. Also listed is the Septimer Pass, which was heavily used at the time, connecting the Oberhalbstein on the northern side of the Alps directly with Casaccia, and which crosses the Alpine chain in the immediate vicinity of Maloja.
The pass road in more recent times
As a west-east connection, the Maloja was of course a much-used transit route in later centuries, all the more so as the Engadin was said to have the best country roads and bridges in Graubünden, so that, as can be read in an old document, "two carriages can pass side by side unhindered, and the bridges are all made of larch wood, with upright side timbers, so that the carriage could not fall into the water if it fell over". But the road through the Upper Engadine was to become even better, because between 1774 and 1776 it was further extended between Maloja and Punt Ota at a cost of 35,000 guilders. The pass road was again extended in several stages between 1827 and 1865 according to the most modern criteria of the time, with the cost of the Silvaplana-Castasegna section amounting to 390,000 francs.
This sum, which was very large for the time, clearly shows how important the roads and especially the passes were. This was not limited to their use by traders, travelers and pilgrims. Strategic considerations have always been at the forefront.
Maloja during the Napoleonic Wars
Maloja gained its strategic importance in a tragic way, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars, when French and Austrian troops in the Engadin and Bergell repeatedly disputed control of the pass. On December 5, 1798, the Sils chronicler Paul Robbi reported that the Austrian General Auffenberg had ordered the roads to be cleared down to the bottom so that cannons and ammunition could be driven through. "Thanks to our hard work, the first cannon was able to enter the Engadin on the 6th. With great difficulty, it was brought up to Maloja, where it had to be dismantled and loaded onto sledges together with the wagons and ammunition. "The following year, the "Bergell team" had to clear the Maloja Pass as early as April 3rd, which was associated with great difficulties, as it was constantly snowing and storming, and the shoveled-out path was immediately full of snow again. Robbi writes that the foreign soldiers did not care about this, however, and that the locals were busy day and night with the draught animals. On May 19, two battalions with 150 horses arrived in Sils, and as there was still snow, the men had to return to Maloja to shovel out the road. The soldiers were divided between the two villages, and they would have taken everything they found from the valley people. But it got even worse, because in August they robbed the cattle from the stables, stole everything that wasn't nailed down and in Maloja, as Robbi describes the situation, they destroyed almost all the roofs.
In 1799 the war took a turn and now the orders came from the French, but by September it was another major power that was in charge again and the order was issued that "anyone with healthy limbs" had to go to Bergell to help transport General Suworow's Russian artillery, which was to reach Celerina from Chiavenna in two days. However, it took until October 7 for the 62 cannons and the large number of ammunition wagons to pass through.
The "Osteria vecchia" was also affected by these terrible events, because on November 25 Maloja had to take in a hundred French soldiers. Fifty of them were housed in the old inn. The soldiers are said to have fired in the kitchen to such an extent that the house caught fire and half of it burned down.
Famine in the Engadin
These forced labor services and billeting, requisitions, destruction and the large sums of money imposed on the communities to pay war expenses led to a complete impoverishment of the population, the effects of which were felt for years after the end of the war. To make matters worse, after the turn of the century there were long, cold winters and short, harsh summers with very poor harvests throughout the Alpine region. The result was a severe famine. The import of grain from areas close to the Italian border, with which the communities were usually able to avert the worst in years of famine, did not take place in the legendary year of emergency 1816, as Chiavenna and Valtellina had decreed an export ban. Nevertheless, some smuggled "Milan rye" made its way over the Muretto Pass to Maloja, admittedly at an expensive price, but those who could afford it traveled to Maloja, where the grain was offered for sale. Even after the export ban on grain was lifted, Maloja remained the transshipment point for this important foodstuff for a long time.
A revolutionary in the "Osteria vecchia"
In those years, the "Osteria vecchia" was owned by Giovanni Josty, an Engadin who had made his fortune abroad as a chocolatier and brewer. It then passed through various hands and in 1854 was once again dragged into the maelstrom of European history. In the first days of January 1856, the Italian rebel Felice Orsini (1819-1858) is said to have spent the night in the Osteria. Throughout his life, he had rebelled against those in power in his country and spent years in prison as a result. He was sentenced to death in 1854, but was able to escape from prison to England. From there, he prepared an assassination attempt on Napoleon III, which he carried out on January 13, 1858, shortly after his stay in Maloja. The attempt failed. Orsini was sentenced to death and executed in Paris. The Orsini-Stübli in the Schweizerhaus commemorates him.
Maloja as a second Monte Carlo
Around 1880, the "Osteria vecchia" was acquired by Count Camille Frédéric Maximilian de Renesse. This Belgian aristocrat wanted to turn Maloja into a second Monte Carlo with a large, first-class hotel where the aristocrats of Europe could come together for relaxation, sport and entertainment. In a second stage, another hotel and 25 villas were to be built. A spring was discovered and analyzed and publicized as a healing spring. The establishment of spa facilities was planned. A streetcar line was to connect Maloja with St. Moritz. Above all, however, the hotel was to be connected to a Kursaal, whose gambling halls would put Monte Carlo in the shade. Renesse chose the "Osteria vecchia" as his residence and rebuilt it in the original chalet style, which is still widely admired today.
After a few years, he had Belvedere Castle built as his private residence and leased the Schweizerhaus to Rudolf Wettstein from the Hotel Albana in St. Moritz.
Of all the lofty plans, only the large hotel, the Maloja Palace, was built and opened in 1884. Permission to operate the hotel was refused by the federal authorities. Nevertheless, life in the hotel initially unfolded on a grand scale with the haute volée from all over Europe. The entertainment programs featured the most famous artists of the time, such as stars from the Metropolitan Opera New York, performances by the Comédie Francaise and the Theater Sarah Bernhardt, Paris. Stage shows with up to 250 performers were organized.
The decor and pomp at ball events were legendary and were commented on in the highest terms by the newspapers of the metropolises, and sometimes in critical tones in the local papers. Of course, guests also had access to all kinds of sports, such as a golf course, tennis, rowing, an ice rink, ski lessons, a ski club and much more.
However, the glamor was only to last a short time. Financial problems arose very soon after construction, as important foreign financiers got into difficulties. Even after the turn of the century, the hotel could no longer be opened for the winter season and after the outbreak of World War II in 1914, it was closed completely. In the following decades, it experienced a rather turbulent fate until it was taken over by the Belgian company "Alliance de mutualité chrétienne" in 1962 as a vacation hotel for young people, families and disabled groups. The fate of Count Renesse and his projects is not without a certain tragedy - but perhaps it is a good thing for Maloja that these gigantic projects could not be realized. Would our loyal guests come to the Schweizerhaus if Maloja had become the second Monte Carlo?
The Schweizerhaus, Pöstli and Capricorn
The Schweizerhaus also experienced a varied fate. After the collapse of Count Renesse's empire, it became the property of the Compagnie Franco Suisse Maloja along with all the other properties. After the lease with Wettstein had apparently expired, it was leased to Mrs. Elisabeth Meyer, divorced Berns, in 1915 at an annual rent of 4000 francs, although the contract expressly states that the rent would increase by 1000 francs per year "if the already planned railroad were to run to Maloja". The contract also states that it was concluded "on the express condition that the divorce proceedings initiated by the court are carried out and that Mr. Berns is denied any access to the house for the entire duration of the contract". In 1923, the Conrad family,
St. Moritz acquired the Schweizerhaus and in 1968 it was transferred to Schweizerhaus AG. The house has since undergone extensive renovation and modernization in various stages. Three years later, the Hotel Post on the other side of the street was purchased and a modern hotel with apartments, rooms, sauna, restaurant, kiosk and bank branch was built in its place. In 1991, the Chesa Capricorn was added right next to the Schweizerhaus, so that today guests can choose between different types of rooms and lounges, all run by the same management under the same motto, namely to offer every guest an all-round enjoyable stay, with modern comfort, the best from the kitchen and cellar and the personal atmosphere of their hosts.
Marcella Maier
