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HOTEL HISTORY Villa Post

In 1902, the annex of the Grandhotel Waldhaus, today’s Villa Post, served as Vulpera’s post office. Today’s fireplace room was the waiting room for the guests who started their journey home in the carriage. The Villa Post also served as accommodation for the servants (maids, butlers) of the guests of the Hotel Waldhaus and thanks to a small restaurant in the Villa Post they were able to cater for themselves. Unfortunately, the Hotel Waldhaus fell victim to a fire in 1989, one day before the season opened.

During his stay at the Waldhaus Vulpera, Dürrenmatt developed such important material as “The Physicists” and “The Meteor“. In his last novel “Musiktal” he had the forest house Vulpera burn down and in 1989 he took the opportunity to walk through the ruins, which were in danger of collapsing, with his wife Charlotte Kerr.

On September 18, 2021, the ceremonial inauguration of the new Dürrenmatt bench and the Dürrenmatt memorial stone took place. The bank is located just above Vulpera at a beautiful vantage point in the forest.

​Just a few steps from the Hotel Villa Post is the romantic spa park with the pretty fountain, the symbol of the spa town of Vulpera. A large part of the park now belongs to Hotel Villa Post. Many decorative items in the hotel date from the time of the Grand Hotel Waldhaus.

WALDHAUS VULPERA

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HOTEL WALDHAUS

Museum & Café

With the generous support of Mr. Zollinger (last Waldhaus director) we have set up a small Waldhaus museum in the park building opposite the hotel. It shows objects from the Hotel Waldhaus that could be saved from the fire. The majority of the exhibits belong to Mr. Zollinger. The museum is open daily in summer and can be visited free of charge.

No more Easter greetings!

«No more Easter greetings!» That’s what it sometimes says on the index cards of the Grand Hotel Waldhaus in Vulpera, because they didn’t want every guest back. The concierge and receptionist stoically endured the rude behavior of the illustrious and wealthy guests, but noted their experiences on the index cards. Guests were observed discreetly, telephone calls were overheard, appropriate and inappropriate behavior was commented on. In the interwar period and especially during the Second World War, the Waldhaus was a place where the upheavals of a disintegrating society became noticeable. What might have been discussed at reception when in 1932 guests had to leave in large numbers due to the bank crisis, when in 1939 the Easter greetings sent to Jewish guests came back with the comments “retour”, “departed” or “moved”? How did the tone of the staff change towards Jewish guests? How did you meet the high-ranking National Socialists? Like the Jewish guests who survived the Holocaust and returned after the war? The forest house burned down in 1989 due to an arson that has not yet been clarified. Among other things, the guest file with 20,000 cards could be saved. This rare source not only allows a look at the guests, but also at the perspective of those who kept the index cards.

Author text
Rolf Zollinger was the last director of the Hotel Waldhaus Vulpera and is co-editor of the book No More Easter Greetings!

Order your copy at reception. Price CHF 50.00