Page 67 - Livre Beau Rivage Palace

A FIRM HAND AT THE WHEEL. Hotelière de Lausanne (ehl), thanks to the help and support of
the hotel manager John Muller. From an educational point of view,
JACQUES TSCHUMI having the school and the hotel under one roof created a unique
situation in which theory and practice constantly came face to face.
The other founder members who made up the first supervisory
board, chaired by Jacques Tschumi, were Adolf-Rodolf Armleder,
founder of the Richemond hotel in Geneva, Ami Chessex, one
of the builders of the Territet in Montreux, Adolphe Raach, who
owned the Hôtel du Faucon in Lausanne and H. Spahlinger of
the Hôtel du Lac of Geneva. Under the directorship of Henri
Briod, both teacher and head, the Swiss Hotel Association’s school
functioned like a boarding school; in other words the students were
Nadja MAILLARD
given board and lodging in the same place where classes, which
Jacques Tschumi was born on 20 May 1844 at Wolfisberg in he didn’t know much about anything and he hasn’t been seen since Sunday, began on 17 October 1893, were held. During the six-month
the canton of Berne. Like other pioneers of the Swiss hotel industry, some people even believe he may have drowned himself.’ In a few lines, winter course leading to a final examination, the school’s first
including César Ritz, Alexandre Seiler and Franz Joseph Bucher- Geiser illustrates the lack of preparation, skills and stability among intake of 27 students studied English, French, German, arithmetic,
Durrer, he came from a farming family and grew up dividing his hotel employees, and how kitchen, dining room and reception staff accounts, geography of tourism and calligraphy, as well as learning
time between work on the farm and attending the village school. were left to muddle through on their own. As a teacher, Jacques product recognition and taking deportment classes. In addition to
He was a bright student and on leaving school went on to the Tschumi was worried by the random, hit-and-miss nature of the syllabus, students had to help with hotel tasks, such as setting
teacher training college in Münchenbuchsee where he obtained professional training. He was also convinced that success in the hotel and clearing tables and various domestic chores. In 1904, the school
his diploma in education. While teaching in Niederbipp, he was business or any other branch of the hospitality industry did not moved to its own premises on the Avenue de Cour, at Les Figuiers,
offered the post of private tutor to the children of Hans-Jakob only depend on theoretical and practical knowledge or technical formerly a boarding school for girls. In 1975, it moved to its current
Hauser (1821-91), manager of the spa at Gurnigel. Gradually, he and managerial ability. Professionals also needed other special campus at Le Chalet-à-Gobet, a few kilometres north of Lausanne.
became more involved in the management of what was one of qualities – communication skills, open-mindedness, diplomacy In the century since the school was founded, the number of
Switzerland’s largest hotels and one of the best-known thermal spas and an innovative approach. As an influential member of the Swiss students has steadily increased, the courses have become longer and
in the world. He began by serving as Hauser’s deputy but replaced Hotel Association (ssh), founded in 1882, he was able to observe the choice of subjects on offer more diverse, so as to provide greater
him when he was elected to the cantonal parliament in Berne and developments in the hotel business in Switzerland from close quarters. training opportunities. After the launch in 1994 of a four-year
as federal councillor in 1881. Tschumi remained at Gurnigel for In addition, as manager of the Beau-Rivage he was confronted with course in International Hospitality Management, ehl received us
several years before being appointed manager of the Hôtel Alsace- personnel problems on a daily basis. In 1891 he submitted plans accreditation in 1998, a formal guarantee that the diploma awarded
Lorraine in Cannes and then, in 1888, taking over at the Beau- for a hotel school to the association’s general assembly in Lucerne by the school would be recognised internationally as a Bachelor of
Rivage in Lausanne. but was met with scepticism from his colleagues for whom ‘a hotel Science degree. The same year, ehl signed a partnership agreement
In August 1867, Emil Geiser, an apprentice cook at the Beau- school made no more sense than a school for labourers.’ But Tschumi with the University of Applied Sciences, Western Switzerland (hesso).
1
Rivage, some of whose recollections appear on page 150, wrote in was an obstinate and persuasive character, who surrounded himself
a letter to his parents: ‘Since I have been here [since March 1867], six with a board of directors who believed in his idea. Two years later 1. Philippe GINDRAUX, L’art et la manière. École hôtelière de Lausanne,
Payot, Lausanne, 1993, p. 29.
kitchen workers have already left. Last Friday, a young cook who did his he put his plans into practice. The Hôtel d’Angleterre, a few steps
apprenticeship for 400 francs in a small hotel came as a replacement. But away from the Beau-Rivage, became the headquarters of the École

Jacques Tschumi [1844-1912], manager of Beau-Rivage from 1888 to 1912, Graduation class of 1894-99 at the École Hotelière de Lausanne.
and founder of the École Hotelière de Lausanne. Jacques Tschumi is sitting behind the little round table.

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