The Japan Times - Burgenstock: Ukraine summit venue used to hosting glitterati

EUR -
AED 4.186538
AFN 80.955121
ALL 98.89106
AMD 443.893625
ANG 2.054243
AOA 1045.757451
ARS 1337.562255
AUD 1.784975
AWG 2.054482
AZN 1.934375
BAM 1.958602
BBD 2.282946
BDT 138.446876
BGN 1.955109
BHD 0.42961
BIF 3388.934042
BMD 1.139796
BND 1.49313
BOB 7.873196
BRL 6.427995
BSD 1.13942
BTN 97.05444
BWP 15.55619
BYN 3.728919
BYR 22339.998213
BZD 2.288855
CAD 1.579894
CDF 3281.471767
CHF 0.938929
CLF 0.028088
CLP 1077.437571
CNY 8.314818
CNH 8.284122
COP 4797.366443
CRC 576.019118
CUC 1.139796
CUP 30.204589
CVE 110.422024
CZK 24.928457
DJF 202.908543
DKK 7.464113
DOP 67.145483
DZD 150.782429
EGP 57.902656
ERN 17.096937
ETB 152.523293
FJD 2.577076
FKP 0.851036
GBP 0.850573
GEL 3.123329
GGP 0.851036
GHS 16.294171
GIP 0.851036
GMD 80.926186
GNF 9869.034091
GTQ 8.775556
GYD 239.100008
HKD 8.843077
HNL 29.569308
HRK 7.542257
HTG 149.092014
HUF 404.21695
IDR 19071.576689
ILS 4.130791
IMP 0.851036
INR 97.056803
IQD 1492.735816
IRR 47999.650358
ISK 146.099158
JEP 0.851036
JMD 180.498258
JOD 0.80834
JPY 162.104611
KES 147.318295
KGS 99.674833
KHR 4561.506623
KMF 492.985859
KPW 1025.932235
KRW 1634.354745
KWD 0.349063
KYD 0.94955
KZT 582.861405
LAK 24646.047491
LBP 102094.281428
LKR 341.325376
LRD 227.894073
LSL 21.143552
LTL 3.365521
LVL 0.689451
LYD 6.233865
MAD 10.569723
MDL 19.609972
MGA 5142.312538
MKD 61.554486
MMK 2393.326367
MNT 4071.785
MOP 9.104827
MRU 45.110544
MUR 51.517274
MVR 17.564103
MWK 1975.809666
MXN 22.337377
MYR 4.932469
MZN 72.947086
NAD 21.143552
NGN 1826.579831
NIO 41.929625
NOK 11.805812
NPR 155.287505
NZD 1.919804
OMR 0.438791
PAB 1.13942
PEN 4.177541
PGK 4.720754
PHP 63.928864
PKR 320.098691
PLN 4.271378
PYG 9125.056189
QAR 4.153943
RON 4.978737
RSD 117.3669
RUB 93.49296
RWF 1628.81623
SAR 4.27573
SBD 9.52221
SCR 16.197233
SDG 684.456263
SEK 10.970227
SGD 1.491115
SHP 0.895701
SLE 25.874705
SLL 23900.93009
SOS 651.228926
SRD 42.002023
STD 23591.472384
SVC 9.970178
SYP 14819.581002
SZL 21.136242
THB 38.126053
TJS 12.032511
TMT 3.989285
TND 3.408477
TOP 2.669519
TRY 43.824122
TTD 7.730994
TWD 36.81256
TZS 3066.050491
UAH 47.338232
UGX 4175.938322
USD 1.139796
UYU 47.978227
UZS 14754.110276
VES 98.645806
VND 29640.390486
VUV 138.265199
WST 3.157339
XAF 656.894007
XAG 0.034203
XAU 0.000344
XCD 3.080355
XDR 0.815708
XOF 656.896892
XPF 119.331742
YER 279.364238
ZAR 21.148565
ZMK 10259.516318
ZMW 31.876329
ZWL 367.013791
  • RYCEF

    0.0700

    10.25

    +0.68%

  • BCC

    -0.9400

    94.39

    -1%

  • RBGPF

    -0.4500

    63

    -0.71%

  • RIO

    0.1150

    60.985

    +0.19%

  • SCS

    0.1000

    9.96

    +1%

  • NGG

    0.4000

    73.25

    +0.55%

  • CMSC

    -0.1000

    22.22

    -0.45%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.58

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    0.1450

    21.955

    +0.66%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    12.82

    +0.16%

  • BTI

    0.3100

    42.7

    +0.73%

  • GSK

    0.8800

    38.94

    +2.26%

  • AZN

    1.8400

    71.77

    +2.56%

  • RELX

    0.4350

    53.795

    +0.81%

  • CMSD

    -0.0800

    22.4

    -0.36%

  • BP

    -0.8150

    28.315

    -2.88%

Burgenstock: Ukraine summit venue used to hosting glitterati
Burgenstock: Ukraine summit venue used to hosting glitterati / Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI - AFP

Burgenstock: Ukraine summit venue used to hosting glitterati

The uber-plush Burgenstock resort perched high above Switzerland's Lake Lucerne -- the dramatic setting for this weekend's summit on peace in Ukraine -- is well-accustomed to hosting world leaders and movie icons.

Text size:

The luxurious hotel complex is hosting more than 50 heads of state or government, among delegations from 92 countries, in the hope that its tranquil location and fresh mountain air will provide fitting conditions to find paths towards ending Russia's war in Ukraine, now in its third year.

- Hepburn, Bond and Chaplin -

The exclusive complex, in classic picture-postcard Switzerland scenery, has been welcoming leaders and the well-to-do and for more than 150 years.

Charlie Chaplin met Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the resort in 1953, along with his daughter, the future Indian premier Indira Gandhi.

Screen idol Audrey Hepburn married her first husband Mel Ferrer in the Burgenstock's chapel in 1954, and they made the luxurious destination their home, living in the resort's Villa Bethania.

Italian actor Sophia Loren had a chalet on the Burgenstock -- now the site of its Persian restaurant -- while Queen Ingrid of Denmark was among the hotel's visitors.

Sean Connery was based there when shooting the 1964 James Bond movie "Goldfinger", spending a month at the resort and filming scenes on the mountain.

Israeli prime ministers David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir visited, while West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer spent July and August 1950 there.

Jimmy Carter stayed before becoming US president in 1977.

- Location, location, location -

Eight kilometres (five miles) from Lucerne in central Switzerland, the Burgenstock mountain dominates the centre of the lake and is surrounded by the water on three sides, making it relatively easy to seal off.

The mountain's peak, shrouded in mist on Saturday, is 1,128 metres (3,700 feet) above sea level and the northern slope plunges nearly 700 metres down to Lake Lucerne.

The Burgenstock resort sits 450 metres above the water on a ridge below the peak.

It comprises four main hotel buildings, from the Belle Epoque to the ultra-modern, plus seven restaurants, along with other villas and residences.

While the contemporary lake view royal suite could set guests back more than 16,000 Swiss francs ($17,850) a night -- before fees and taxes -- a simple chalet room can cost 320 francs.

- Funicular railways and breathtaking lifts -

The brainchild of sawmill business partners Franz Josef Bucher and Josef Durrer, the Grand Hotel opened in 1873. The Palace Hotel was added in 1903.

In total, there are 360 rooms and suites, and up to 700 staff.

The Hammetschwand Lift, a rocket-shaped metal lattice tower and the highest outdoor lift in Europe, shoots up 152 metres to the mountain summit.

Katara Hospitality, owned by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, took over in 2007 and completed a revamp a decade later.

Most regular guests arrive by the winding mountain road, or by catamaran from Lucerne followed by a funicular railway, 929 metres long and rising 434 metres.

The Buochs Airport at the foot of the mountain can also take private jets and helicopters.

Third-generation Swiss hotelier Chris Franzen, who took over as the Burgenstock's managing director in April, said he was accustomed to hosting prominent personalities.

"But not 80 to 100 at once," he told Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS.

The Swiss foreign ministry decided which leaders got which rooms.

- Previous peace talks -

This weekend's Ukraine peace summit is not the first time world issues have been thrashed out at the Burgenstock.

The resort hosted the secretive annual Bilderberg meeting of global power brokers in 1960, 1981 and 1995.

The Sudanese government and the main rebel group agreed a six-month ceasefire in the Nuba Mountain region in 2002 at the Burgenstock, paving the way for a peace agreement in 2005.

In 2004, four-way talks were held on a plan to reunify Cyprus, presided over by UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, but failed to produce an agreement.

The complex was to have hosted the World Economic Forum's 2021 "Great Reset" summit amid the Covid-19 crisis, but the annual gathering of the world's political, economic and business elite never took place.

Y.Watanabe--JT