“Arriving at the Kronenhof is like coming home. I always fondly recall our days at the Kronenhof. It has such a family friendly atmosphere that we even brought the children. They both skied all day long on the slopes of Pontresina. The Diavolezza, Bernina and Lagalb areas are a magical winter wonderland.

Photographer Bill Lorenz accompanied us and shot some of his most remarkable work in hotel documentary photography. 

Upon starting our research, we were led into a small room in the oldest part of the house, dating back to 1849. ‘These are the archives,’ Stocker proudly announced. Stacks of old photographs, guest books and historic documents like drawings (left) greeted us.

We dove into the material and were at once driven back to the days of the 1850s, when a few men in this region realised that a new breed of travellers, called tourists, was seeking the kind of accommodation worth staying in for more than one hasty night.

Over the decades the Palace, the Kulm (both in St Moritz) and the Kronenhof, the grand old lady of Pontresina, developed into grand alpine hotels. The Kronenhof was the first of them all. A small boarding house with only three rooms in 1849, it became the Gasthof (inn) zur Krone-Post.

All guest records are still kept in the archives of the Kronenhof. Hence, we know that there were 14 guests in the first year, 11 Germans and ‘other’ nationalities, and three English guests. One of them was a certain F. Hugh who brought his dog, Flip.”

Andreas Augustin