HOTEL
INTERLAKEN
Monastery to Romantic Poet’s Getaway Lodging
Interlaken
is one of Switzerland’s best known tourist stops on
a journey through the Alpine country. On a trip though Switzerland is
one of the places where you’ll most likely hear English being spoken.
It’s only natural since this town in the Bernese Oberland which
lies in a narrow valley between Lake Thun and Lake Brienze (hence “between
the lakes”) has been a stopping point for travelers since the middle-ages.
Today, Interlaken is 
primarily
a long main street between two train stations Interlaken East and Interlaken
West, lined with hotels, some luxurious
five star grand dames of the Belle Epoque, to modern high-rise and Best
Western, serving those seekers of the snows of winter or mountain meadows
of summer, or just the thrills of paragliding from the mountain peaks
onto the village green (see Interlaken
Paragliding). Interlaken is the
gateway to the stunning peaks of the Jungfrau and Eiger which lie to
the south
(see Jungfraujoch
Scenic Rail).
Before the protestant Reformation, an Augustinian Monastery in what was
then called “Aarmühle” for its mill on the Aare River
which 
carries Alpine water to the lakes was a way stop for traveling pilgrims.
The
monastery is long gone, with a current church built on part of its foundation,
but it’s guest house, called then the “Closter
Pinte” or “Closter Guest House” essentially beds and
a tavern in its horse stable, remained as one of the most popular stopping
points for travelers, and in the late 18th Century became on the Interlaken’s
first true hotels when the income for tourism as an outdoor play-land
far outstripped milling for the conveniently located town.
Lord
George Noel Gordon Byron the great English romantic poet who spent
much of his life as
a tourist, and travel blogger of his day (his epic
poem “Childe Harold” was essentially a travelogue) made several
trips to Interlaken in 1916, during his travels in Switzerland (see Byron
Villa Geneva), his last was a stop before leaving
for Greece where he would die of a fever while fighting in the Greek
civil
war.
Byron stayed at the Hotel Interlaken on his journeys in the 1800’s
(then called the Interlaknerhof”), as did composer Felix Mendlessohn
on several trips through the Bernese Oberland. A visit by a Dr. Aebersold
in 1820 introduced Interlaken as a health resort for the healing properties
of its plentiful goat whey called “Molke”, making Interlaken
a famed destination.
The
Hotel Interlaken has undergone several renovations since Byron’s
day, but the main building remains much as it was in the 1800's, though
parts are quite modernistic now, like the reception desk, a mix of history
and contemporary style. One of the rooms though which one casually
passes
was used as
a courtroom
in days past. The hotel bar remains in what was the original Kloster
Tavern.
A Japanese
Garden
was added
in
1995,
between
the Stubli
Restaurant
and
the old monastery
grounds with a covered terrace. The Hotel Interlaken is family run 4-star
hotel choice with 60 rooms for an elegant historical stay in this Swiss
touring village, very convenient for rail travelers. The Hotel Interlaken
is about 5 minutes walk from the Interlaken East Train Station which
is the arrival point of the Golden
Pass Rail Line and the scenic trains
to the valleys of Grindelwald (see Grindelwald
Winter) and Lauterbrunnen
(see Schilthorn
Revolving Restaurant). If you don’t stay at the
Hotel Interlaken, but one of the town's many other lodgings, stop in
to the tavern for its color and history, but maybe best not to order
the goat whey. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Interlaken
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SEE ALSO:
SHERLOCK HOLMES MUSEUM - MEIRINGEN
SWISS PASS - RAIL TRAVEL DEAL IN SWITZERLAND
CHATEAU
D'OEX - BALLOON FESTIVAL
