Toward the end of the 19th century, the remote small mountain village of Zermatt had become an up-and-coming summer health resort.
During this period, the priest of Zermatt, Josef Ruden, arrived at the unconventional idea that Zermatt's old and established families should build a hotel for their own benefit.
Thereafter, the burghers of Zermatt realised in stone in the years 1876 - 1879 the vision of the indefatigable Priest Ruden: the Grand Hotel Zermatterhof – with its 94 rooms and around 150 beds, then the largest hotel in the village.