First mention of the Kaltbad spring with its alleged healing powers, after Barthli Joler from Weggis was cured while bathing in the cold water. This was the beginning of early wellness tourism on Mount Rigi. By 1600, over 100 bathing tourists were already coming to Rigi Kaltbad every day.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited Mount Rigi on his first trip to Switzerland and wrote in his diary about Mount Rigi: "The glory of the world all around!"
Opening of the luxury hotel on Rigi Kaltbad with 240 beds, dining room, lounge, ladies' room, writing room and music salon. In the same year, Queen Victoria of England climbs on horseback from Küssnacht to the Känzeli vantage point and writes enthusiastically in her diary: "We are amused!".
The American globetrotter and writer Mark Twain visits Mount Rigi and writes his humorous diary "A trip to Mt. Rigi".
At 4 o'clock in the morning, a mighty blaze appears over the Rigi. The Grand Hotel is on fire! It was particularly special for the Weggis fire department: the last firefighters were not even home from the ...Agatha celebration! The fire quickly spread through the old building, which was built around 1870 and could no longer be saved despite the large-scale efforts of the fire department. At the time of the fire, there were around 180 guests and 60 hotel employees in the building. And a few hours later, it was clear that eleven people had died in the flames. According to the weekly newspaper, "many were only able to escape death by fire in pyjamas or nightgowns".
Founded in 1964, the "Neue Rigi Kaltbad-Hotel AG" built the Hostellerie Rigi Kaltbad between 1964 and 1966 according to the plans of the well-known architect Justus Dahinden, a nephew of the Rigi hotelier Alois Dahinden. The women's magazine Annabelle furnished five rooms, and the room doors are still labeled Annabelle.
After an extensive construction phase, the Hotel Rigi Kaltbad, the village square and the Mineralbad & Spa Rigi Kaltbad were reopened and inaugurated in summer 2012. Swiss star architect Mario Botta has given Rigi Kaltbad its unmistakable style and character with the new village square and the bathing and wellness facilities. The Mineralbad & Spa Rigi Kaltbad brings the 600-year-old bathing tradition of the "Chalte Bad" into the modern age.
"Swiss Radio SRF reported in detail on the development of Rigi tourism in a program on January 23, 2021. The former Grand-Hotel Kaltbad has its say in detail."
