About us

Introducing our company

The Kientalerhof AG has a long history with various twists and chapters. The following illustration and the timeline below provide a good overview of the wide range of products and the history of our company.
 

If you are interested in our educations in body therapy, you can find our frequent information events here (partly with try-out treatments). An overview of all our offers can be found in the course calendar.
 

This page is about Kientalerhof AG as a whole. More information specifically about the Campus (School for Body Therapy) you can find here.
 

Our activities and locations at a glance

Kientalerhof

Where

Kiental / BE

What

Campus for body therapy; training and further education, seminars; also room rental to external parties

Standort Wetzikon

Where

Wetzikon (near Zurich)

What

Offshoot of the campus,
including Tronc Commun, Cranio and osteopathy; also room rental to outsiders

NaturHof

Where

Kiental (BE)

What

Permaculture farm; seminar room and dormitory

ChieneHuus

Where

Kiental (BE)

What

Ayurveda and fasting cures, meditation courses, yoga, holidays; also room rental to external parties

History of our Company

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1897

1916

1950s/
60s

approx. 1978

1985

1987 bis
ca. 1994

approx. 1994

approx. 2000

2009

2011

Since 2014

Since 2015

Spring 2018

Autumn 2018

2019

Construction of the Kientalerhof by the Thönen family. Hotel operation, only open during warm season (April-October). Many tuberculosis patients, because the altitude of about 1000 m above sea level is considered ideal for curing.

A secret international peace conference is held in the village of Kiental, where activists and Politicians (including Lenin) are looking for ways to end the madness of the First World War.

The Kientalerhof is mainly used by companies as a holiday farm for their own staff (among others Mercedes Stuttgart).

Closure of the Kientalerhof due to illness of the owner (3. Generation member of the founding family
Thönen); the house goes to rack and ruin.

Purchase of the Kientalerhof by Mario Binetti and five partners. Operation as an international Seminar centre with focus on macro-biotics training. Since 1986 first Shiatsu trainings in Switzerland (ISS Kiental). Co-foundation of the Shiatsu Society Switzerland. The guests or students come from up to 15 countries, including overseas.

Kientalerhof runs a branch of the seminar offer in Breslau, Poland.

Expansion of the body therapy offerings, slow reduction of the macro-biotics offerings. Founding of the International School for Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (ISBC Kiental).

Further expansion of the offering through the addition of a new majority shareholder, Urs Osann. Stabilisation of the company after financially difficult times (among other things due to the ever stronger franc and
increasing competition from abroad). Further expansion of the product range.

Death of Urs Osann. The Kientalerhof continues to be run by new management; exit Mario Binetti.

Return of Mario Binetti, takeover of the whole company. Rebuilding and expansion of the offerings.

Opening of the “Kientalerhof Wetzikon”, an urban course room in Wetzikon near Zurich with focus on Craniosacral therapy and Tronc Commun.

Yearly renewal of Eduqua certification, a quality label for educational institutions. This had already been the case from 2000 on for several years.

Opening of the Holz100 new building ChieneHuus and establishment of the spa in the uppermost floor (Ayurveda and fasting cures).

Takeover of the Naturhof at the other end of the village Kiental and revival of permaculture.

Separate positioning of ChieneHuus as a retreat house with holiday, spa and mindfulness cures on one hand and the Kientalerhof as a campus for complementary therapy and associated offers on the other hand.

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The Kientalerhof Team

Many of our employees are former students or guests. Our team consists of around 30 competent employees from a wide range of professions and cultures, who have internalised the values of our company and thus create an atmosphere of relaxation and concentrated learning for you every day with a lot of joy and commitment.

Management Team

Mario Binetti

Chairman of the Board of Directors

Thomas Primas

CEO Kientalerhof, Program Management Campus, QM

Mona Achermann

Program Manager ChieneHuus

Maya von Klass

Guest Segment & Workstudy

Christian Haller

Accounting

Gabriel Sennhauser

Head of Marketing, Communication and IT

Matthieu Lenoir

Head of Gastronomy

Elsa Sousa

Course Management & Administration

Looking for a time-out?

We want to support people to find their own way and to follow it. We want to help them to find out what is really important to them and fits them, what their values and priorities are and from which sources they can draw strength.

 

We have been offering this extraordinary program since 1999: Through practical work in the house and garden, getting a taste of our body therapy training courses or helping with cooking, workstudies come to us with the questions that are important to them, in order to become aware of their new orientation in conscious work, to gain strength or to gain new ideas and perspectives in encounters with others. All this is possible – and much more.

Useful Information

Contact person: Pablo Donzé

E-Mail: pablo.donze@kientalerhof.ch

Testimonials


Stefan: For a long time I was looking for a place for myself. A place where I am embedded in a community that supports and provides a framework. And on the other hand, a place that allows everyone to move freely within it and beyond, both internally and externally. During my time in the WorkStudy program I was able to experience different qualities of connection, support and freedom – and that all of this goes together. Many of the people who carry this place are full of patience, love and understanding. To be allowed to spend a few months or even longer in such a place is truly a gift – full of magic, surprises, insights. And with lots of earth, air and mountains. www.stefanstalder.com


Maya: Before I started the Workstudy program, I felt like I was spinning in a hamster wheel. I had friends, a steady job, an apartment, but I couldn’t get ahead with my personal development. So I started looking for a new job. But then I realized that if I simply change my job, I’m just in a new place and back in the same wheel. Then I heard about the Workstudy program, and especially the reference to Qi Gong and body therapy appealed to me. Before, my job had made me think too much and loosing contact to my body. So I got in touch and soon it started. The group harmonized immediately and also the nature impressed me. The program, which Philine, Anna-Katharina and Noah put together, suited me very well. It gave me the framework that I could find more of myself again. During the whole time I felt very much seen and heard and held. Of course, the Workstudy program can also be intensive and challenging, depending on the issues you come into contact with – also in yourself. All in all, the Kientalerhof is like a shelter for me. Although the mountains can sometimes become narrow, you often feel embraced.


Benjamin: I came to the Kientalerhof for the Workstudy program without having any ideas about life and its possibilities here – luckily. Because this place and the people who live here can’t really be put into words. I was always amazed about this little paradise: Nestled between big mountains and situated on the steepest postal road in Europe. Like this road, my life meandered up and down – sometimes easy to clean, sometimes skidding. The variety of interpersonal encounters and the tension between movement and stillness enriched my life a lot. I was often found by what I was looking for. Trager and Qi-Gong helped me to experience a new quality of lightness and relaxation in my body. Of course there were also difficult moments and not everyone can stand the intensity here. But most who get here stay longer than planned. Some even much longer.