007 Travelers Interview: Annelis Stähli-von Allmen / Hotel Eiger Mürren

007 Travelers visited Hotel Eiger Mürren, and met Mrs. Annelis Stähli-von Allmen.
We asked her about her hotel, about James Bond and traveling and of course
filming 007 movie "On Her Majesty´s Secret Service" (1969), starring George Lazenby.

Annelis Stähli - von Allmen *

Who: Annelis Stähli-von Allmen (former Hotel Manager)
Where: Cocktail party of Hotel Eiger Mürren, Switzerland
When: 17 July 2014
007 Connection: George Lazenby has stayed here in 2013 during opening of BOND WORLD 007.

Also while filming "On Her Majesty´s Secret Service" (1969) part of the filming crew stayed here and they together with George Lazenby celebrated in Hotel Eiger´s Tächi Bar.

He also played poker in Hotel Eiger for so long against Telly Savalas (Ernst Stavro Blofeld) and lost, so producer Harry Saltzman later asked Savalas to return the money to George Lazenby.

1. How long did you work in Hotel Eiger Mürren?

I grew up in the Hotel Eiger, I started working here full time for the Winter Season 1959/60, from the beginning of December 1959, then my father had a heart problem in January 1960 and I run the hotel with my mother, married in 1964 to Walter Stähli from Brienz and together we run the place till he passed away very suddenly at the age of 62 in 1997, my mother followed the same year being 89, I retired when my son Adrian married Susanna in 2007, I will be 77 at the end of October!

2. Tell us about George Lazenby, filming of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969) and anything that comes to your mind when the cast and crew of OHMSS stayed in Mürren?

George Lazenby stayed at the Palace Hotel, he used to come to the Tächi Bar for dinner on several occasions and I found him a very nice person. As the crew was always busy until about 5 pm, when they were free they needed some dinner, and as our barman Paul Köster, who was actually the barman in the film, was always with the crew on Schilthorn, they very often came to have dinner at the Eiger. The producers Mr. Broccoli and Mr. Saltzman and the director Peter Hunt, often also the Canadian investor of the Schilthornbahn, Bart Morgan were eating in the Tächi Bar which had been turned into a à la carte Restaurant with high quality of food. When the bosses were there, the stuntmen might sit on the table next to them and they were always anxious that they got served just the same! We had two super buffet dinners, one was for the crew to cheer them up, the other was a wedding party and I brought Sandra, my daughter, then aged 6 months, down to introduce her and Diana Rigg offered her some champagne which she seemed to enjoy :) I think this is why her taste of wine is so excellent and she became a wine expert! I have nothing but good memories of the time of the film.

George Lazenby came back to Mürren for the celebration of the 45^th anniversary of the film OHMSS and he stayed with us at the Eiger. It was really nice seeing him again and talking of the film.

3. Who is your favourite James Bond actor? (leading male role)

Maybe Sean Connery – or Roger Moore. I have not seen all the Bond Movies but it’s hard to make a choice between the two.

4. The best Bond movie?

I think OHMSS – as it was filmed in reality, not computer animation – there are so many lovely outdoor scenes. Just blowing up Piz Gloria was filmed in Pinewood studios, Bart Morgan had been invited to witness this – he said it was spectacular.

5. Which is the best place where you have traveled so far?

The best place for me is Hawaii.

6. Which is the place where you would like to visit but have not yet been?

I would like to visit New Zealand one day.

* Photos from Annelis Stähli-von Allmen's album. Photos taken during filming of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969). Published with permission of Annelis Stähli-von Allmen.

See the video of Hotel Eiger Mürren

See more 007 Travelers interviews here