100 Years of pioneering spirit and courage

   have enabled us to become what we are today

The Hauser family stems from the lakelands of Berne, where generations of them once eked out a living as farmers. Johann Hauser-Schnell?s family lived on a small farm in Schüpfen, near Berne. Although the family was large, their accommodation and the farm were very modest. In order to supplement their income Magdalena, Johann?s wife, used to purchase vegetables from neighbouring farmers, load them onto a small handcart and walk all the way to the market in Berne, where she sold the produce. Their son, Johann, left the family to seek his fortune in the fledgling tourism industry. In the summer he worked at the Royal St. Georges Hotel in Interlaken and during the winter season when the hotel was closed he travelled to Cairo by train and by ship and found a job at a hotel. There he also met his future wife, Rosa Marti, who also happened to be from the lakelands of Berne. During a hike from Ticino to Grindelwald in the autumn he wrote in the mountain cabin guestbook on First mountain that he faced the prospect of having to choose between Cairo and Grindelwald. The beauty of the mountains (in particular, the First mountain region) and the fact that tourism in the Bernese lakelands was already taking off, finally helped him decide to settle in Grindelwald.

In 1903, he and his wife Rosa took over the lease of the Jungfrau Hotel in Grindelwald. Ambitious as he was, he immediately started to plan building his own hotel, and one year later he put these plans into action. He was financially supported by his relative Ernst Ruchti, a teacher with a secure income. It remains an absolute mystery to us today how he managed to fund his venture at all. Johann bought a horse and cart in order to do as much of the work by himself as possible. 100 years ago, i.e. in the winter of 1907, work on the interior furnishings was quickly nearing completion, and the opening of the Belvedere was scheduled for the 1907 summer season. My grandfather must have had a lot of faith in the future. There was also a sense that a new era was about to dawn in the valley. The Belvedere project was an enormous undertaking for a penniless farmer's son. Hope must surely have alternated with fear, as a definite breakthrough for tourism was still anything but certain. The restaurants "Touriste" and "Belvedere" were opened as early as 22 December 1906. These were followed by the opening of the hotel in mid-June 1907. As we can see on old pictures, two hotels had been merged into one: the "Touriste" Hotel on the lower floors, reception, dining room and communal rooms in the middle and the Belvedere Hotel at the top. Good value for money downstairs, a class act upstairs. What a relief it must have been that the project was a success from the outset. Two years later plans were made to double business, and this goal was also achieved. The family was blessed with six children. Rosa took over the management of the dining room and Elsie, who had suffered from polio as a small child, saw to purchasing and many other things behind the scenes. Johann, the oldest son (who died young) worked as a sports trainer and in the administration. His wife, Cecilie, remained loyal to the Belvedere well into her old age and was responsible for the reception.

For more photos and historical documents, see the section Impressions.