Villa Cassel
Origin of the name Villa Cassel
The villa bears the name of the man who built it, Sir Ernest Cassel, born in Cologne on 3 March 1852 as Ernst Cassel, who became a banker in London.[1]
Founding of Villa Cassel
In 1895 Ernest Cassel spent his first summer weeks on the Riederalp. His doctor had prescribed rest and mountain air for stomach trouble. He then decided to have a summer residence built on the Riederfurka. The 25-room villa went up in two alpine summers. It now stands in the Aletsch Forest nature reserve, in the municipality of Riederalp, formed in 2003 by the merger of Goppisberg, Greich and Ried-Mörel.[1][2][4]
History of Villa Cassel
1895. Ernest Cassel stays on the Riederalp for the first time.[4]
1899. In summer, the future residence is prepared at decisive meetings on the Riederfurka.[1]
1900-1901. The villa is built on the Riederfurka (1900-1902 according to another source).[2][5]
1902. In August the first guests, many of them members of the Cassel family, sign the guest book. Figures from politics and high finance in England, Germany, France and America make the house a fashionable meeting place.[1][4]
1912. Next to the villa, Cassel has the Chalet Cassel built for his granddaughters.[4]
1914. Cassel leaves Switzerland as war approaches. He still has the villa made ready every summer, but the war and his health keep him from returning.[1]
1921. Ernest Cassel dies in London on 21 September. His granddaughter Edwina inherits the estate.[1]
1924. The villa and chalet are sold to the Cathrein family of hoteliers, who turn the villa into a hotel.[1][3]
1969. The hotel closes. The villa and chalet then fall into disrepair.[1][3][8]
1973. While trying to buy the Nessel alp from the Cathreins to enlarge the Aletsch Forest reserve, Pro Natura learns that the villa is also for sale.[3]
1976. Bought and renovated for more than 3 million francs, the villa reopens on 10 July as Switzerland's first nature conservation centre.[1][3][5][6]
1979. An alpine garden opens, bringing together all the plant communities of the Aletsch region.[4]
2019. The house undergoes a complete renovation, for which Pro Natura approves a credit of 2.8 million francs.[6][7]
2020. The centre reopens at the end of June.[6]
2026. On 13 June the villa opens for its fiftieth season as a nature conservation centre.[3]
Historic sites in Villa Cassel
Villa and Chalet Cassel. The villa has four storeys and 25 rooms. Winston Churchill stayed there at least four times. The neighbouring chalet dates from 1912. The villa is a protected monument, so the 2019 renovation could neither insulate its facades nor fit solar panels.[1][4][6][7]
Alpine garden. Laid out near the villa in 1979, it presents the plant communities of the Aletsch region.[4]
Sources
- Pro Natura Zentrum Aletsch, « Geschichte Villa Cassel »
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Riederalp » (Anton Riva, version du 05.01.2017)
- Pro Natura, « Das erste Naturschutzzentrum der Schweiz öffnet zum fünfzigsten Mal » (08.06.2026)
- Pro Natura Zentrum Aletsch, « Riederalp, Villa Cassel, Gletscher, Gipfel und Bankier » (document publié sur vs.ch)
- SRF, « Von der Nobelvilla zum Naturschutz-Zentrum » (09.07.2016)
- SRF, « Villa Cassel: Das Naturschutzzentrum auf der Riederalp ist bald wieder offen » (25.06.2020)
- Pro Natura Zentrum Aletsch, « Projekt Villa Cassel 2020 »
- swissinfo.ch, « The villa on the glacier » (31.08.2001)
- geo.admin.ch, service de recherche de swisstopo (Villa Cassel)
Other villages near Villa Cassel
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