Best acoustics for chamber music – investor gives village of 1500 souls a hall for 35 million – news

Central Switzerland has a new world-class concert hall – in the lakeside community of Vitznau. If that works?

The walls glitter in gold, and 3,000 star-like LED lights shine down from the dark ceiling onto the rows of burgundy-red chairs. After only two years of construction, it has become a magnificent hall: 279 seats, ten meters high, underground. Cost point: Around 35 million Swiss francs.

The hall offers “unique acoustics,” enthuses Elke Hesse, who played a key role in the planning work. “We were able to develop a wonderful sound experience for chamber music here,” she says. It is intended to be a hall of national importance, and the Vienna Boys’ Choir has been invited to the opening ceremony at the weekend.

But as well as the hall would fit into a big music city: It is not in Vienna, Zurich or Lucerne – but in Vitznau, a central Swiss municipality directly on Lake Lucerne, with just 1500 inhabitants.

An Austrian multi-millionaire builds his dream

Behind the project is Peter Pühringer, an investor and patron from Austria who became extremely rich as an asset manager in the 1990s. A good ten years ago he renovated the historic “Park Hotel” in Vitznau for 250 million, and since then the 81-year-old has continued to invest in hotels and luxury apartments in the lake community. The result was the hotel complex “Das Morgen”. A mixture of holiday resort, research laboratory and further education campus – now enriched with a concert hall.

Legend:

The millionaire’s first coup: Peter Pühringer had the “Park Hotel” in Vitznau extensively renovated – and steadily expanded his commitment to the lake community.

Keystone/Urs Flüeler

But the question is whether this hall – with all the advantages of its acoustics – actually finds enough audience. The Tonhalle in Zurich is only 40 kilometers away as the crow flies, and it’s not even half as far to Lucerne with the KKL and the recently opened concert halls of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and the Music Academy. There has also been a concert hall in Andermatt since 2019, financed by the Egyptian investor Samih Sawiris, who is building a tourism resort there.

Elke Hesse sees no problem here. “This hall is not only built for chamber music, you can also have folk music and young artists play here,” says the culture manager of the Pühringer Group. And above all: It can be used in a variety of ways – banquets, weddings and seminars are also conceivable.

This hall is not only built for chamber music. Very different things are possible here.

Urs Langenegger, who is responsible for the hotels of the Pühringer Group in Vitznau, also emphasizes the importance of commercial events. “I’ve worked in this area for 11 years and I’ve seen the hotel industry grow – and with it the demand for a venue for larger events,” he says.

Last but not least, the hall should also be open to the local population, such as clubs or music societies. However, it remains to be seen whether they can afford the prices: the room rent is between 3,500 and 5,000 francs, without technology.

«The Rigi Railway was also a crazy project»

The mood in the village is still good compared to the hall, says Paul Zimmermann. The architect was responsible for the project management – and comes from Vitznau himself. “A world-class hall for a village like ours is an absolute gift,” he says. And compares the hall with the construction of the mountain railway from Vitznau to the Rigi in the 19th century. “At the time it was also said that this was a crazy project. But it brought us a lot.”