History

STAY AT A FAMOUS HOTEL WITH A TRADITION!

The Kulmhotel Gornergrat is situated at 10,000 feet above sea level – making it the highest hotel in the Swiss Alps. The Commune of Zermatt constructed the first hotel (known as Hotel Belvédère) on the Gornergrat as early as 1896. Two years later the famous rack railroad was extended to Gornergrat. Stimulated by the new accessibility of Gornergrat, tourist traffic quickly increased over the next few years. It was not long before the Commune of Zermatt began to recognize the significance of Gornergrat as a tourist destination. As a result, the Kulmhotel Gornergrat was constructed between 1897 and 1907.

In 1996, a dome was built on each of the two towers of the stone building. The domes provided a vantage point from which Italian and German scientists could look out into space using infrared and radio telescopes. The clean air and optimum light conditions at this location allow an exceptional view of the galaxies. Today only the observatory in the South is used for observations of the University of Cologne.