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The Neo-Renaissance style Grand Hotel Hotel Waldhaus Vulpera with Sgraffito-Elements was one of the first addresses in the Swiss Alps and was a major Belle Époque monument in Europe. With its 270 beds it was the largest hotel in Scuol-Tarasp-Vulpera and was one of the most important new hotel buildings in the 19th century and is thus a piece of architectural history.
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History
The Grand Hotel Waldhaus Vulpera was erected 1896–97 by the architect Nikolaus Hartmann senior (1838–1903), it was opened on June 8, 1897. Among the frequent visitors was also Friedrich Dürrenmatt, which was inspired by the Grand Hotel for his last novel “Durcheinandertal”. In 1988 the hotel was closed for renovation and guided tours were offered which also included the big kitchen, which was planned to be transformed in a swimming pool during the renovation works.
On 27 May 1989 the hotel was destroyed by conflagration which seemed to be a case of arson. The annual report of the Graubünden Insurance Company lists the following: Total loss Hotel Waldhaus arson, Amount of loss: 23 Million Swiss Francs. Today the site is transformed in a park, which incorporates architectural remains (such as cast iron columns) of the Grand Hotel
The Hotel Waldhaus Vulpera served as model hotel for Dürrenmatts last novel “Durcheinandertal”. After Dürrentmatt had finished his manuscript, in which the hotel burns down, the real Hotel Waldhaus also burned down. Charlotte Kerr and Friedrich Dürrenmatt have visited the hotel ruins in autumn 1989.
Exhibitions
Movies
The Hotel Waldhaus was used for the BBC-production of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel «Tender is the Night». There is also a TV documentatary about the hotel's history and the conflagration: