mehr
As far as we have been able to find out, the “Whymper-Stube“
has been in existence since the beginning of the 1960s. Before
that, the room in which the restaurant is still located today
belonged to the Hotel Monte Rosa and was directly connected
to the hotel. The rear section of the restaurant, where the coat
of arms of the Seiler-Cathrein family can still be seen today,
was used as the dining room of the Seiler family for many
years. Before that, it was reportedly the room in which the
mountain guides waited to meet their clients.
The first managers of the Whymper-Stube were Monika and
HISTORY - WHYMPER-STUBE
Robert Cina. They were followed by Monika‘s younger sister,
Myriam Perren Mermod, who after many years of successfully
managing the restaurant, handed over the reins to Markus and
Susanne Kölliker at the end of the 1990s.
Did you know the Whymper-Stube in times gone by? Were
you a former and/or regular visitor? Do you know any other
interesting stories about the restaurant…? We would love
to hear them! To be continued!
On a beautiful June day in 1862 a young, scruffily-dressed
Englishman strode up the valley on the old mule track along the
banks of the river Vispa. When he had rounded the last bends
in the path from Täsch to Zermatt and emerged from behind a
rock promontory, he saw the Matterhorn for the first time. It is
said that he stood there spellbound by the mountain, gaping in
astonishment. From that day on, he had only one thought on his
mind: to climb that mountain.
After that, Edward Whymper eagerly came back to Zermatt
summer after summer to practise on the mountain, and always
stayed at the Hotel Monte Rosa, where all the early climbers
used to stay. Then finally, on 14 July 1865, thanks to his iron
will and perseverance, he succeeded in becoming the first
person to conquer the Matterhorn. Many climbers had tried to
reach the summit of the Matterhorn, but none had succeeded,
either from the Italian side or from the Zermatt side.
Edward Whymper was the first to reach the summit. Following
behind him were Michel Croz, a mountain guide from
Chamonix, the Reverend Charles Hudson, Lord Francis
Douglas, Douglas Robert Hadow (all from Great Britain) and
the Zermatt mountain guides, Peter Taugwalder (father) and
Peter Taugwalder (son).
HISTORY - MATTERHORN - EDWARD WHYMPER
On the climb down, the leading four of the roped party of seven
(Croz, Hadow, Hudson and Douglas) fell from above the
“shoulder” of the Matterhorn down the north face to their deaths.
Three of the dead climbers were retrieved from the Matterhorn
glacier a few days later, but the body of Lord Francis Douglas
has to this day never been found.
Because of the death of Lord Francis Douglas, Queen Victoria,
the British monarch at that time, wanted to impose a ban on
climbing. She said that she did not want the precious blood of
any more British noblemen to be squandered on the
Matterhorn. Her demand only further ignited the curiosity and
zeal of British climbers. From then on, British travellers and
climbers came in their droves to Zermatt to see and climb
the Matterhorn for themselves. This was the beginning of
tourism in Zermatt.
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Winter / hiver 15:00 - 23:00
Sommer / summer / été
11:00 - 23.00
geschlossen / closed / fermé
Mitte April bis Ende Mai
Mitte Oktober bis Mitte November
täglich / daily / quotidien
