The history of the hotel business in Schoren begins in 1897 with the opening of the newly built Hotel du Lac. Planning for the new hotel building had certainly already begun in 1894 and 1895. Construction work probably began in 1896 and was completed in May/June 1 897. As there are no more plans or construction accounts, we do not know who the architect was. However, the master builder is known. Karl Bühler, master builder and Grand Councillor in Matten, was hired by Ulrich Abegglen-Seiler for part of his work on November 12, 1897. A pledge28 for CHF 25,000 was issued on the new hotel building. The purchase contract for the hotel furnishings, dated May 22, 1897, and the monitoring of overnight stays, which began on August 5, 1897, allow the conclusion that hotel operations began in August 1897.
We do not know what motivated Ulrich Abegglen (1852-1903) and his wife Margaritha Abegglen-Seiler (1856-1944) to have a new hotel built on such a large scale for lseltwald.
The available documents only provide a rudimentary picture of the financial situation after completion of the hotel. The properties in Schoren, with a property tax value of CHF 71,730, were encumbered with a total of CHF 67,000 after the new hotel was built.
The construction and furnishing of the hotel appear to have required significantly more funds than originally assumed. This is the only way to explain why Ulrich Abegglen put a number of plots of land up for public auction as early as November 1898 in order to reduce the debt burden. However, of the five plots on offer, only Blattacher and Senggboden were sold.
All that remains of the actual hotel operation itself are the records of overnight stays, two hotel brochures, the renovation files from 1937 to 1945 and the guest books.
Operating figures, food and drink menus and other informative documents on hotel and restaurant operations are completely missing until 1936.
With the early death of Ulrich Abegglen in 1903, his widow Margaritha was suddenly faced with an extremely difficult situation. With four underage children and three grown-up sons with no special training in the hotel trade, she was in charge of a hotel business with 22 rooms. She also had to run the farm and the two other houses in Schoren. The surviving inheritance inventories give us a more detailed insight into the hotel business for the first time. The economic situation of the business changed only slightly in the following years.
The hotel was seriously threatened in 1914 with the outbreak of the First World War. Foreign guests stayed away due to the war, and the Swiss had only a few
Money available. In 1917 and 1918, interned soldiers and officers of the French army were accommodated in the hotel. The operating costs could thus be covered to some extent. With personal sacrifices, the commitment of the whole family and the income from farming, the hotel was able to survive the economic crisis after the end of the war. In 1926, Margaritha Abegglen-Seiler (1856-1944) ceded half of the property to her two daughters Anna Margaritha (1884-1974) and Johanna Zimmermann-Abegglen (1895-1979). From 1930 to 1932, the hotel business was leased to the third sister, Mrs. Magdalena Gilbert-Abegglen ( 1890-1935).
The debt burden now rose steadily, and in 1935/36 it became necessary to restructure the business in order to avert the threat of bankruptcy. Under the leadership of the Swiss Hotel Trust Company in Zurich and with the active assistance of the Oberländische Hilfskasse in Bern, the first restructuring (debt restructuring agreement) was initiated.
This was accompanied by an adjustment of the ownership structure. Peter Abegglen ( 1882-1943), the previous leaseholder of the hotel, took over his sister Johanna Zimmermann-Abegglen's ( 1 895-1979) share at the price of the mortgage debt. At the same time, numerous creditors, including family members, waived credit balances totaling CHF 68047.4034.
Peter ran the business until his death in 1943, with his son Fritz (1912-1986) also helping out on his own account from 1938. He paid his sister Anna Margaritha a weekly rent of CHF 20. After a few years of poor operation due to the war, the restaurant had to be renovated again in 1941. Due to the ordinance issued by the Federal Council on October 22, 1940 concerning temporary legal protective measures for the hotel industry, the two owners again applied to the court for debt relief.
When Margaritha Abegglen-Seiler also died in 1944, the time had come for a new adjustment of the business and ownership structure. Fritz Abegglen continued to run the business after his father's death. In 1946, he acquired the middle house, but at the same time had to have the hotel demolished due to a lack of profitability.
He continued to run the restaurant and a limited hotel business in the middle building until 1974.
In the old chalet, his aunt Anna Margaritha ran the guesthouse with 14 beds with varying degrees of success until she sold the property to her niece Elise Bohren-Abegglen in 1964. With Fritz and Elsbeth Abegglen-Hohler, a new phase began at the Schoren in 1974. Numerous renovations and new buildings, which necessitated major investments, resulted in a hotel and restaurant business at the end of our century that is significantly larger than it was a hundred years ago. The opening of the national road in 1988 was an extremely important event. It gave lseltwald a new lease of life, which certainly encouraged investment in the Schoren.
The hotel now offers 38 beds in the ***SHV category in 21 rooms. The restaurant has 260 seats. Since 1974, the number of employees has increased from five to thirty-five.
