the story Haus zur Brücke
the origin

Opa Alfons

Alfons Biner was born into the Biner family in Zermatt at the beginning of the last century. In the 1930s he moved with his young family into the "Haus zur Brücke". He had the opportunity to acquire the bakery at that time. Over the years, the family grew and the business did aswell. In the 1960s, two of his sons took over the bakery business. The Haus zur Brücke remained an important meeting place for all of Alfons Biner's descendants in the years that followed, as his parents continued to live there. As our grandma Gertrud used to say: "The 'Haus zur Brücke' symbolizes the bridge between the generations". Towards the end of the century, the third generation took over the bakery, which they successfully managed until 2019. 

However, the Haus zur Brücke has suffered badly over the years and therefore had to be renovated from scratch. 

Haus zur Brücke

Explanation about the name

The house has been called "Haus zur Brücke" (House near the bridge) for more than a hundred years, because, as the name describes, it is located next to the bridge to the footbridge. Photographs from the 19th century show that at that time only a few bridges crossed the river. The village of Zermatt was much smaller back then. 

After the demolition of the old building we want to be faithful to the name. 

For our 4 vacation apartments we have chosen the names "Findelbach", "Triftbach", "Zmuttbach" and "Gornera". These are the 4 brooks form the Mattervispa, which flows under the bridge in front of the house. 

The streams are named after their sources: Zmuttbach from the Zmutt glacier, Gornera from the Gorner glacier, Triftbach from the Trift glacier and Findelbach, which flows through the Findel gorge, from the Findel glacier.