The Hotel

The Baur au Lac provided Europe's nobility and aristocracy with a new “home” in Zurich. Some of the most powerful people in the world considered the Baur au Lac the leading address in Switzerland. In addition to King Ludwig I of Bavaria, the King Carl XVI of Sweden, the Queen Sonja of Norway and the Emperor I. Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, better known as Sissi, together with all her retinue, were just a few of the regular guests. Sissi’s first visit to the Baur au Lac dates from 1867. Although it was out of season, the hotel was specially opened for her.

Merely setting the pace in the hotel business was obviously not enough. In 1926, Hermann Kracht (4th generation owner) also won the Swiss road-racing championship. The headline from the sports newspaper lists the results of the Fifth International Klausen Race in 1926. First place in the sports car category went to one Dr. Karrer, piloting a Bugatti, while Hermann Kracht – also in a Bugatti – was first across the line in the racing car category.

In Zurich the front lawn of the Baur au Lac was transformed into a potatoe field. This clearly shows how important it was for everyone to pull together and make sacrifices to get through the hard times. And thus, the hotel never went short of potatoes for ist wartime menus; although most of the crop was used for the hotel guests and staff, the surplus was given to local people in need, who could not afford the high prices such foods fetched on the black market.

In 2014, the Baur au Lac celebrated its 170th anniversary, affirming its place as one of the world's oldest 5-star hotels still owned by its founding family – now in its sixth generation. The aim is to combine tradition and modernity, while preserving the special family character of the house, in order to continue writing history.