Johannes Badrutt (2 April 1819 – 1 November 1889) was a Swiss businessman, hotelier and restaurateur. He was primarily known for bringing the first English tourists to

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

during the 19th century. He was the founder of Kulm Hotel St. Moritz in 1855. Badrutt's second eldest son was

Caspar Badrutt Caspar Badrutt (July 21, 1848June 28, 1904) was a Swiss businessman, hotelier and restaurateur. He was the founder and proprietor of the famous Badrutt's Palace Hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Badrutt was almost solely responsible for developin ...

. He is the patriarch of the Badrutt family.

Early life and education

Johannes Badrutt was born on 2 April 1819 in

Samedan, Switzerland Samedan (, locally ) is a town and municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons. It is served by Samedan railway station on the Rhaetian Railway network and by the Samedan Airport. History Samedan is first mentioned in 1139 ...

into an old-established Engadin valley family. His father was Johannes Badrutt Sr., a contractor and building supplies merchant, originally from

Pagig Pagig is a village in the district of Plessur in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. An independent municipality before, it merged on January 1, 2008 with neighboring St. Peter to form the municipality of St. Peter-Pagig. ...

. His mother, Anna Maria (née Donatsch) Badrutt, hailed from Malans but she was introduced to her husband while working in

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

. Badrutt had four siblings, one elder brother and two younger sisters and one brother. While his brothers had a formal tertiary education in the form of an apprenticeship or college studies, he did not pursue any continuing education. He attended several schools and worked in

Chiavenna Chiavenna (; ; ; or ; archaic or ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It is the centre of the Alpine Valchiavenna region. The historic town is a member of the Cittaslow movement. Geo ...

and

to gain experience.

Career

In 1836, aged 17, he entered his fathers building company. His father owned a small inn, called ''A la Vue du Bernina'' (the round gabled house is still standing today). Since 1855, Badrutt leased the ''Faller Inn'' which he had the intention of acquiring. In 1858, he sold his parents inn and purchased Faller's for 28,500 Swiss Francs. He and his wife started to upgrade the inn and soon it was known as Kulm Hotel St. Moritz, one of the leading hotels in the luxury industry. Badrutt made several strategic real estate investments at the time, for example he purchased the building site of today's Badrutt's Palace. In 1882 he was the largest landowner in

. He was a visionary in terms of technical development. In 1878, Badrutt went to the Exposition Universelle in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France and purchased the first electrical lighting system, which he brought back to

. He was also an art collector and patron.

Personal life

Badrutt married Maria Berry (1822–1877), the daughter of the baker and municipal councilor of

, Johannes Berry in 1843. She was the sister of Peter Robert Berry, who'd later became the a health practitioner in

. The couple had eleven children, of which eight reached adulthood. His second eldest son was the famed hotelier

, who founded

Badrutt's Palace Hotel Badrutt's Palace Hotel AG, commonly known as Badrutt's Palace, is a luxury hotel and resort in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Opened in 1896, the hotel has 112 rooms and 43 suites, as well as 8 restaurants, 2 bars, a shopping center and spa area. In 2 ...

in 1896.

Literature

* Herbert Meider: ''Schweizer Pioniere der Hotellerie''. Schweizerische Verkehrszentrale, Paudex 1976 (in German) * Susanna Ruf: ''Fünf Generationen Badrutt. Hotelpioniere und Begründer der Wintersaison''. Verein für wirtschaftshistorische Studien, Zürich 2010, (''Schweizer Pioniere der Wirtschaft und Technik.'' Bd. 91). (in German)

References

1819 births 1889 deaths Swiss businesspeople {{Switzerland-bio-stub