Halter develops the Sonnenberg Hotel on Lake Lucerne
One of Switzerland's most prominent properties, the former headquarters of the Maharishi Foundation above the Rütli in Seelisberg, has found a new owner. Residential buildings are to be added to the hotel.
Halter AG announces that it intends to revitalize the building complex around the Grand Hotel Sonnenberg and the Kulm spa hotel, which is in serious need of renovation, and to revive the historical identity of the site. The planned residential buildings are intended to help make this economically viable. The company puts the investment volume at CHF 200 million.
"We are glad to have found in Halter a buyer who is aware of the historical significance of the site," writes Felix Kägi, member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for the Age of Enlightenment. The latter belongs to the Maharishi movement, which acquired the complex in 1972. For some time the Foundation of the now deceased yogi Maharishi Mahesh, the founder of Transcendental Meditation, had been looking for a new owner for its spectacular property in the canton of Uri. They were supported by the consulting firm HSC - Hess Strategy Consultants AG from Meggen.
According to Halter, the company was already in talks with the municipality of Seelisberg and the canton of Uri in the run-up to the deal. This was done "in order to coordinate expectations, objectives and steps in connection with the planned development of the site.
The hotel complex at Seelisberg was built at the end of the 19th century. In the Maharishis' self-image, the complex served as the "world government of the Age of Enlightenment," but only for twelve years. In the early 1990s, they moved their headquarters to the Netherlands, and the Sonnenberg complex remained mostly unused for decades. (aw)
