Franz Josef Bucher

Franz Josef Bucher (1834-1906), a Swiss magnate born in Kerns, partnered with Josef Durrer to build hotels. In 1873 he opened the Grand Hotel Bürgenstock, above Lake Lucerne, served from 1888 by an electric funicular. At the head of Europe's largest hotel company, he also built the Palace in Lucerne and the Semiramis in Cairo, dying shortly before the latter opened.