Back in time...

A brief history of the TSCHUGGEN GRAND HOTEL

The TSCHUGGEN GRAND HOTEL began in 1883, when Otto Herwig, a German from Hanau on the river Main, came to Arosa because of a lung condition. Convinced of the health-giving effect of Arosa’s air, he soon founded the Berghilf Sanatorium with his sister Marie, who took over the running of the institution in 1892 and managed it until her death in 1922.

Most of the lung patients used to stay here for the summer months. For the 1929/1930 winter season, the Berghilf Sanatorium transformed itself into the TSCHUGGEN GRAND HOTEL for the benefit of winter sports enthusiasts. Its metamorphosis was the starting signal for the whole tourist development of Arosa. From refuge for bronchial sufferers and escape from city heat, Arosa became the winter sports paradise for skiers for which it is famous today.

In the ensuing years, the TSCHUGGEN GRAND HOTEL experienced ups and downs until a disastrous fire destroyed the whole property in 1966. Reconstruction took four years, and a successful re-opening was celebrated for the 1970 winter season. In 1980 Armin Wyssmann – for many years the hotel’s owner-director – sold the TSCHUGGEN GRAND HOTEL to the family of Karl-Heinz Kipp, who still owns it.

Sizeable investment has marked a further milestone in the history of the Hotel. Since April 2004, this investment has borne fruit in the opening of the “Tschuggen Bergoase” health and fitness centre, and in upgraded infrastructure. All works have been conducted under the expert guidance of internationally renowned Swiss architects Mario Botta and Carlo Rampazzi. A world’s first is the start of the hotel’s own mountain railway, the Tschuggen Express.