HOTEL ‘LES TROIS ROIS’

​6 JANUARY / Dreikönigstag / the Feast of the Three Kings
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Basel's best known Three Kings throne above the main entry of the hotel "Les Trois Rois". These statues, dressed in magnificent robes, are relics from an old inn that used to stand on the Schifflände until 1842. Created originally in the mid 18th c., these kings carved out of larch wood represent the Three Wise Men of the East. Following a good star, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar are said to have travelled great distances before arriving in Bethlehem - they thus became patron saints of travelers, of inns and hostelries.

Statues of the Three Kings, above the main entrance of the hotel "Les Trois Rois" / "Drei Könige" on Blumenrain 8, in Basel 
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View of the old inn, founded in 1681, with the statues of the Three Kings dating back to 1754.
Image from: M. Triet, A. Nagel, M. Leuenberger "Les Trois Rois. Glimpses of the Past"
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Tavern sign, probably from the inn "Drei Könige", 1752
Image from: M. Triet, A. Nagel, M. Leuenberger "Les Trois Rois. Glimpses of the Past"  
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Statues of the Three Kings during transport from the painter's studio back to the hotel, 1981 
Image from: M. Triet, A. Nagel, M. Leuenberger "Les Trois Rois. Glimpses of the Past"
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"Les Trois Rois" / "Drei Könige" Hotel today. Last renovation, by Villa Nova Architekten, was completed in 2006 - newly gilded statues of the Three Kings were mounted once again on the hotel's main facade.