Leopold Bermann relives his role as legendary host of the Edelweiss Hotel

For 128 years, the Edelweiss Hotel was the solitary kosher sanctuary in the resort town of St. Moritz, Switzerland. And while its sale in 2010 ended the popular enterprise run by the Bermann family for three generations when its future was no longer viable and no children or grandchildren were determined enough to maintain the legacy, Leopold Bermann is still a hotelier at heart.

Today in his early 90s, Leopold (“Poldi” as his family calls him) lives in Jerusalem’s Rechavia neighborhood with his Gateshead-born wife Rita, his life and hotel partner since their marriage in 1960. While they’ve been out of the business for over a decade, they welcome me with practiced hospitality that must be inborn for hoteliers. We’re joined by son Yosef and daughter Debbie Bitton. Daughters Shoshana Bollag, residing in Switzerland, Scharon Hassan in Lakewood, New Jersey, and Dafna Benisri in Nice, France, are here in spirit, says Debbie, “because we all worked in Edelweiss at one time or another.”

In its heyday, the Eidelweiss was the center of Jewish life in St. Moritz. It contained the only synagogue, mikveh and kosher restaurant in the area, drawing religious tourists, even though there were ritzier establishments elsewhere.

“I always knew I’d run the hotel one day,” says Leopold. “These things were passed down from father to son.”

Trust Was Enough

Before the Edelweiss came into existence, there was a small kosher restaurant in Merano, which in the 1870s was a part of Austria (today, it’s in Italy). Leopold’s grandfather (whose name was also Leopold) was the shochet, and his grandmother was the cook. In the summer of 1883, the restaurant hosted an esteemed customer —Baron Rothschild from Germany. After a satisfying meal, the Baron approached Leopold with an interesting proposal: “Leave Merano for two months, bring your young wife to my villa in St. Moritz where I will be hosting around 30 people, and work for me as my shochet and cook.”

It didn’t take much persuading for the Bermanns to accept the offer. The family worked for Rothschild in his villa for two years, from 1880-1882, until the Baron told them they should just open their own kosher hotel. And in 1883, they did just that: the Bellaria in Merano.

And, busy as they were, in 1896 they opened the Hotel Edelweiss in St. Moritz — possibly the oldest Jewish hotel in the world before its sale in 2010, and certainly the oldest family hotel. It was 20 hours by train to Merano, and the Bermanns shuttled back and forth between their two hotels.

It was the only kosher hotel ever in St. Moritz and was visited by rebbes, rabbanim, and Jews from across the spectrum.

“There was no hechsher, no kashrus certification,” says Leopold. “Trust was enough back then.”