The HR Giger Bar: Europe’s creepiest drinking establishment (11 photos)
The world is full of quirky and downright bizarre venues—there are even restaurants where the staff gets paid to insult you. But if you’re looking for more than just a novelty act and want something truly mind-bending, head over to the HR Giger Bar in the Swiss town of Gruyères. It is, without exaggeration, the most visually arresting bar in Europe, if not the entire world. 
Switzerland is actually home to two Giger bars. One, the Chur Giger Bar, is located in the city of Chur. The second, the Museum HR Giger Bar, calls Gruyères home. It’s this latter location—the more iconic and striking of the two—that deserves a closer look. 
The Giger Bar is housed within the historic Château Saint-Germain, right next to the Hans Rudolf Giger Museum. While the Chur location opened back in 1992, the Gruyères bar has been welcoming guests since 2003. It’s a relatively intimate space with just 70 seats, and it’s virtually always packed. Anyone passing through Gruyères should definitely book ahead, or risk being turned away at the door. 
Stepping inside instantly triggers a sense of dread. That’s hardly surprising: Giger remains an unmatched master of the macabre. The four-meter-high vaulted ceilings resemble the skeletal rib cages and spinal columns of extraterrestrial beasts. 
Grotesque creatures and nightmarish infant faces peer out from the walls. The floor evokes an intricate circuit board, while the biomechanical furniture appears to have been forged from massive vertebrae and bone. 
Visitors are struck by a whirlwind of emotions: some are frozen in awe, others shrink back in fear, and quite a few shudder with visceral revulsion. Staying indifferent here simply isn’t an option. Even on repeat visits, patrons invariably walk away with an exhilarating psychological jolt. 
Master of Horror
How did anyone manage to create an interior so disturbing yet undeniably breathtaking? It’s simple: Rudi Giger was the Stephen King of painting and sculpture. Few understood the architecture of human dread quite like he did. In 1980, he took home an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for his legendary work on the groundbreaking sci-fi masterpiece
Alien
—a franchise that continues to spawn sequels to this day. 
When director Ridley Scott was prepping
Alien
in the late 1970s, he hit a creative wall. He had the budget, a stellar cast, and a killer premise, but he lacked the centerpiece: the monster. Everything his concept artists and prop designers pitched felt uninspired, unthreatening, and derivative. 
Then screenwriter Dan O'Bannon showed Scott a copy of Giger's art monograph,
Necronomicon
, and the director instantly knew he’d struck gold. Laid out before him were the crowning nightmares spawned by the Swiss artist’s dark genius. The painting that captivated him most was
Necronom IV
—which served as the direct visual blueprint for the iconic Xenomorph. 
Necronom IV
, 1976
Getting Giger on board was seamless; the artist was always drawn to daring concepts. He eagerly signed on to design the film’s creatures and sets. It was a massive, thrilling undertaking: Giger and his team worked seven days a week for five straight months. The payoff surpassed every expectation. 
Xenomorph sculpture
Years later, the visionary artist was invited to translate the world of his paintings and sculptures into the interior of a bar—and then another. Hans Rudolf Giger passed away in 2014, but his biomechanical universe remains very much alive. He left behind a staggering legacy of art and design: paintings, sculptures, bas-reliefs, furniture, tableware, and even custom guitars and microphone stands. 
Custom mic stand designed by Giger for the rock band Korn
Recognized as a visionary well within his lifetime, Giger continues to inspire thousands of creatives across the globe. And many still make the pilgrimage to the Museum HR Giger Bar just to immerse themselves in his singular, haunting vision.
