What led the hotelier Josef Anton Bon from Ragaz to choose Vitznau for his luxury hotel? In an idyllic setting on the shores of Lake Lucerne, not far from the legendary Rütli meadow, the location seemed perfect to this forward thinking entrepreneur - not least because Vitznau had been attracting the emerging mass tourism market since the opening of the Vitznau-Rigi Railway, Europe’s first cogwheel railway, in 1871. Bon must have recognised that in this golden age of tourism, a modern luxury hotel on the lake shore was just what was needed. In the architect Karl Gottlieb Koller, who also came from Ragaz, he found a great master of his craft. Koller had already built such famous establishments as the Bäderhotel in Bormio (Veltlin) and the Hotel Schweizerhof in St. Moritz. Later he was to go on to create the stunning Hotel Suvretta House in St. Moritz and Hotel Columbia in Genoa.
In spring 1903, after around three years of building work, the Park Hotel was opened, with the former Pension Pfyffer, built in 1867, integrated into the new hotel. Alongside prominent figures from business and industry, guests at the Park Hotel also numbered artists and actors from home and abroad. In celebration of the hundred year jubilee, a series of glamorous and spectacular ball nights were held, just as in 1903.
In spring 2009, the hotel was taken over by Park Hotel Vitznau AG and closed in order to carry out the planned renovations.
1903 until 1915 Primus Bon (brother of Josef Anton Bon)
1915 until 1923 Primus Bon (son of Josef Anton Bon)
1923 until 1935 Anton Bon (son of Josef Anton Bon)
1935 until 1943 Karl Bieri
1943 until 1952 Rudolf Candrian-Bon
1952 until 1959 Ernst Eugen Rüegger
1959 until 1968 Erich Hoffmann
1968 until 1980 Peter Bally
1980 until 2009 Rudolf-August Oetker
2009 onwards Park Hotel Vitznau AG
