Galleria Emil Vogel
Emil Vogel, Basel (*1884 - †1958)
The artist of the paintings on display is the maternal great-grandfather of Roberto and Alessandra Schmid, the current owners of the hotel.
Emil Vogel was born on March 21, 1884, in Basel. After eight years of schooling, he entered a painter's apprenticeship with master L. Schwehr at the age of 15. After completing a three-year apprenticeship as a painter, he attended the School of Arts and Crafts for the next three years to perfect himself in this profession, to which he later devoted himself by practicing in Lausanne, Geneva and St. Moritz.
In 1906 Emil Vogel joined the ecclesiastical painting studio Gebr. Messmer, where two years later, on the death of one of the owners, he was promoted to director and was able to carry out restorations of churches at his country and abroad.
He then married Martha Borchers of Basel in March 1913 and had a daughter on April 20, 1915.
After 17 years of work, Emil Vogel left the aforementioned company to set up his own business in 1923. Thanks to the trust of an old construction company in Basel, he was able to purchase his beautiful house at Reiterstrasse 8 in 1929. Thanks to his diligence and efficiency, combined with a rare good sense of color and inventiveness in decorating home interiors, Emil Vogel gained the trust of a large clientele and his business flourished.
He was initiated into the Lodge of Odd Fellows in Basel on June 9, 1933, and remained faithful there for 25 years. He was respected and admired in the lodge for his decorations and Schnitzelbank paintings
Bibliography, Sources and Acknowledgements:
- Family archives edited by Jean-Daniel Burnier-Mollinet
- Laudatio of his Masonic Lodge
