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The Information Stand “The Turaida
Estate Hotel – the ‘Swiss House’”
The so-called Swiss House at the Turaida Estate
was built in 1828 to resemble a mountain hotel in
Switzerland, because by the 19th century, Turaida
was a popular destination for holidaymakers.
The building has not survived.
The Swiss House was a graceful two-story wooden
building on fieldstone foundations with a board
roof and a balcony at the second floor level. The
building was decorated with wood engravings and
thin columns. There were horse shelters on both
sides of the Swiss House, though after the Rīga-
Valka railroad line was installed, these lost their
purpose. The shelter to the North of the building
was torn down, while a tavern and teahouse was built
where the southern shelter once stood.
Documents from the hotel show the planning of
rooms therein. The buffet, saloon and kitchen were
on the first floor, and bedrooms were on the second
floor. An 1830 inventory lists five tables, one green
tablecloth, one sofa with four pillows, two chests
of drawers, 29 brass engravings and paintings in
frames with glass, two models of Swiss chalets, as
well as other furnishings and equipment.
Travellers who visited the most beautiful sites in
Vidzeme were wealthy tourists from Rīga, St Peters-
burg and Warsaw. Emperor Alexander II of Russia
with his wife and court visited Turaida in 1862.
Vidzeme teachers held annual conferences at the
Swiss House from 1848 until 1871. These meetings
were always held in German until, in 1869, the
writer and publicist Atis Kronvalds delivered an
address in Latvian and called for a battle in support of
the role of the Latvian language in education.
A council for landless workers occupied the Swiss
House in 1919, and a post office and telephone
central were housed there in the 1930s. The building
The Swiss House as the hotel of the Turaida Estate, early
20th century, photograph, artist unknown
An informational stand about the Swiss House
The Swiss House of the Turaida Estate, early 20th century,
postcard, artist unknown
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