The History of Hotel Jardin Bern
In retrospect
The Hotel Jardin Bern was built under the old name "Militärgarten" (military garden) after the turn of the century. As far back as the 19th century (1890), there was a restaurant called "Militärgarten" exactly where the Hotel Jardin Bern stands today. The adjacent military barracks of Bern, a large armory, were a critical institution at the time. This is how it came about that most of the clientele of the Restaurant Militärgarten were military personnel, employees at the barracks, and staff at the armory.
The original Militärgarten building, initially surrounded by a large garden, was one of the first buildings in the greater area, together with the barracks and a handful of farms.
Postcard from 21. September 1899 with the Militärgarten, the barracks and the Kornhaus bridge - written translated from German: "Thank you for the wonderful card".
1900 - A residential area is created
On this side of the crucial Aare river, a residential area gradually developed, mainly after the construction of the Kornhaus bridge and the Lorraine bridge. Around 1920, today's building was built, which is now part of an appended row of houses. An important part was the large hall, which is still in use today.
1929 - Takeover by the Family Balz
Under the name "Gesellschaftshaus Militärgarten", business was opened and taken over by Ernst and Flora Balz-Kindler; there was no hotel business yet at that time. Turbulent years, war and years of crisis followed. The lively guest house went through ups and downs.
1953/54 - Discorama jardin
In the years 1953/54, Fritz and Margrit Balz-Beetschen took over the business. Evening dancing in the large hall was changed into a disco, one of the first discos in the country under the name Discorama Jardin. The concept was maintained for decades throughout the worldwide disco era as Disco-Dance Jardin with great success.
1970 - Third Generation
Around 1970, Fritz Balz was able to purchase the property from the Cardinal brewery. After the death of Fritz Balz in 1985, his twin sons Daniel Balz and Andreas Balz took over management of the company in the third generation.
Andreas Balz and Daniel Balz, your hosts.
1985 - Hotel Business
The house was expanded to a hotel business and was given the new name Hotel Restaurant Jardin. That was based on the already existing nickname Jardin, garden in French. Since then, numerous reconstructions and renovations have been carried out, so that a charming, modern and energetic establishment stands exactly where the military garden stood in 1880.
2000 - Expansion of the district
The "Jardin" moved into the new millennium without any trouble. The surrounding area was changing rapidly; the whole Wankdorf district was being rebuilt. The new "Stade de Suisse Wankdorf", the new exhibition halls and the ice hockey arena PostFinance-Arena, offer great opportunities for the Jardin as well.
2010 - Stable throughout the crisis
The financial and economic crisis. The Hotel Restaurant Jardin defied these times as well. Hotel chains and thus standardized hotels and restaurants without local roots are discovering Bern. The twin brothers Andreas & Daniel Balz have been running the company for 25 years now - and have nowhere near lost fun and pleasure in doing it. The future has already become the present, and the Balz family have brought their Jardin into the next millennium with the same blood, sweat and tears as for the past 80 years. It's planned to stay like this in the future so that the guests at the Jardin feel at home when they are not at home!
2017 - HOTEL JARDIN Bern IS READY FOR THE FUTURE
From 2017 onwards, a new era began at the Jardin. In spring, all hotel rooms were completely renovated and equipped with the latest technologies. Special attention was paid to sound insulation; so that the quiet location matches the quiet rooms within the house. In autumn, the hotel was newly organized, made fit for the future. The restaurant was definitely closed to make room for additional new hotel rooms. The construction was finished at the end of 2017 and a newly orientated hotel Jardin was able to launch successfully into 2018.
2019 - A personal anniversary
In autumn Mrs. Margrit Balz-Beetschen, the mother of the two shop owners, grandmother of five and since this year also great-grandmother, was able to celebrate her hundredth birthday with her whole family. The mayor of the city of Berne personally delivered congratulations and a present to the centenary celebrators. The visit took place in the Jardin and Margrit welcomed the distinguished guest with great pleasure - Newspaper story from Anzeiger für das Nordquartier.
2020 / 2021 - covid-19 crisis
The year of the global corona pandemic. We all have never experienced this before, and the health of the world's population has not been so much in focus for a hundred years. In addition to the suffering of those affected, the economic situation has suddenly turned into a global crisis. Hotel Jardin was financially affected, but fortunately not in terms of health. Due to the travel bans and cancelations of all trade fairs, meetings and activities, the hotel was virtually empty for months. Despite this, the hotel remained open throughout, offering the usual Hotel Jardin services to individual business travelers and military personnel.
2022/23 - Challenging years
Europe is recovering from the pandemic. The political situation is turbulent. Commodity prices are skyrocketing, electricity and heating energy are becoming massively more expensive. For us, too, it is important to take this new challenge into account and at the same time consider the increased price sensitivity of our guests. Despite everything, 2023 was a successful year for us.