Davos

The Walser people were German-speaking mountain farmers from the Upper Valais who migrated outward from approximately 1150 to 1450 -- one of the last great folk movements of the Middle Ages. From about 1280, the Barons of Vaz invited Walser colonists to settle in the Davos valley, granting them the Walserrecht -- feudal charters conferring land in exchange for moderate taxes and military service. In 1289, a formal agreement confirmed that Davos citizens would pay no personal taxes. Davos became the largest Walser settlement area in eastern Switzerland.

Alexander Spengler (1827-1901), a German physician and 1848 revolutionary refugee, arrived in Davos in November 1853 and noticed that no villager suffered from tuberculosis -- the disease killing tens of thousands across Europe. He concluded that the high altitude, dry air, and intense sunshine had a curative effect. His treatment included long walks, three litres of milk daily, chest rubs with marmot fat, and ice-cold showers. By 1875, Davos had more winter guests than summer guests. By 1940, Davos had approximately 40 medical institutions. The sanatorium era wound down by the mid-1950s when antibiotics made altitude therapy obsolete.

In May/June 1912, Thomas Mann visited his wife Katia at the Waldsanatorium (Forest Sanatorium Professor Jessen) in Davos, where she had been treated since March. The three-week visit inspired his novel 'Der Zauberberg' (The Magic Mountain), published in November 1924. The story follows Hans Castorp, who visits his cousin at the fictional Berghof sanatorium for three weeks but stays for seven years. The Schatzalp sanatorium (built 1898-1900 in Art Nouveau style) served as the primary model for the Berghof. Mann received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938), co-founder of the Expressionist group Die Bruecke, arrived in Davos in 1917 as a physical and psychological wreck after his breakdown during World War I. He spent the last 20 years of his life in the Davos region, producing vibrant Alpine landscapes, portraits of local farmers, and panoramic mountain scenes. The Kirchner Museum Davos, opened on 4 September 1992 and designed by architects Annette Gigon and Mike Guyer, holds the world's largest collection dedicated to Kirchner: approximately 40 paintings, over 700 drawings, more than 300 prints, and 160 sketchbooks containing over 9,000 drawings.

The Spengler Cup was founded at Christmas 1923 by Dr. Carl Spengler, son of the pioneering physician Alexander Spengler. His vision was to 'give the once-hostile nations an opportunity to rediscover mutual understanding and trust through fair and friendly competition' -- reconciliation through sport after World War I. The first tournament was won by Oxford University Ice Hockey Club (composed of Canadians studying at Oxford). HC Davos, founded in 1921, is the tournament's permanent host with 17 titles. The tournament is played annually between December 26 and 31 and is the world's oldest invitational club ice hockey tournament.

In March 1893, the Branger brothers (Tobias and Johannes) first traversed from Davos to Arosa over the Maienfelder Furka Pass on skis. In March 1894, Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, recruited Tobias Branger as instructor, learned to ski, and repeated the crossing. He described the adventure in 'An Alpine Pass on Ski' published in the Strand Magazine in December 1894. Doyle's article ignited enormous British interest in Alpine skiing. Local wagon maker Peter Ettinger and his sons founded Switzerland's first ski manufacturing company in 1895.

The Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) spent two winters in Davos seeking relief from his chronic lung disease. During his first winter (1880-1881, arriving November 4, 1880) and second winter (1881-1882, staying at the chalet Villa am Stein near Hotel Buol), Stevenson was extraordinarily productive: he finished 'Treasure Island' (published 1883), corrected proofs of 'Familiar Studies of Men and Books', and worked on 'The Silverado Squatters'. Despite finding Davos stifling and depressing, the mountain air improved his health enough to continue his literary career.

In 1888, Dutch hotel owner Willem Jan Holsboer -- Dr. Spengler's partner in developing Davos -- founded the Schmalspurbahn Landquart-Davos AG, the precursor of the Rhaetian Railway. The inaugural train reached Klosters on 29 September 1889; the full line to Davos opened in 1890. In 1895, Holsboer renamed the company the Rhaetische Bahn (Rhaetian Railway) as the network expanded across Graubuenden. The railway transformed Davos from a remote mountain village accessible only by horse-drawn carriage into a connected resort town. In 2008, the RhB's Albula and Bernina lines were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.