How the play came about...
For years we spent our summer holidays with my parents-in-law in Niederwald. My husband and our daughter helped with the haymaking. Since I was rather untalented for agricultural work and already suffered from hay fever at that time, I read a lot. When at some point I ran out of the reading material I had brought with me, I read everything I could get my hands on in my in-laws' household. In the process, the slim book with the title "Cäsar Ritz - Ein Leben für den Gast" (Caesar Ritz - A Life for the Guest) by Werner Kämpfen aroused my interest, because Alban (my husband) already told me a lot about the incredible career of this successful Niederwalder, but mainly stories about Madame Ritz, whom he himself had still known and experienced. After reading this book, it was clear to me that this material would interest and touch many people. I spent a long time trying to find a form for it and came to the conclusion that only a film would do justice to this story. But that was out of my league, because I had neither the financial means nor the necessary networks. So in 2004 I suggested to Swiss television that they make a film about Caesar Ritz's biography. BETWEEN GENIUS AND DELUSION: CÄSAR RITZ (1850-1918) Musical Reading When our daughter Karin (actress) married her husband Frank Demenga (actor and author) and I saw that he had already written many readings under the title "Genius and Madness" on various great personalities from literature, music and painting, I asked whether this series could also be opened. With his agreement, I set to work to realise my heart's desire after all. Marlène Wirthner-Durrer

Date: Saturday 11 June 2022
Time: 6 p.m. (admission from 5.30 p.m.), followed by a visit to the exhibition "Caesar & Marie-Louise Ritz".
Place: Station Ritz Niederwald
Ticket prices: Association members CHF 30.00 / third parties CHF 35.00 per person. Children up to 12 years free of charge. Free choice of seats
Reservations: verein@stationritz.ch or +41 27 974 68 68 
 

Here you can expect annually changing art and culture around Niederwald and the Goms. In 2021, you can discover the artistic work of Willi Dreesen, who has immortalized the picturesque corners of the village of Niederwald in drawings.

The Station Ritz at the Niederwald train station is an ideal starting point for tours of all kinds and offers wardrobes, showers and changing rooms. The Station Ritz is located directly at the bike route no. 1 and can offer you a variety of hikes with the tour in the village, the Cäsar Ritz Weg and the access possibility to the Gommer Höhenweg. In winter you can explore the cross-country skiing paradise Goms from the Station Ritz. Cross-country skiing tickets can be bought in the bistro.