St. Moritz

Before 1864, St. Moritz was exclusively a summer spa destination. Johannes Badrutt (1819-1889), who had acquired the small Pension Faller in 1856 and transformed it into the Engadiner Kulm (today's Kulm Hotel), made a legendary wager in autumn 1864 with four British summer guests: he invited them to return in December, promising that on clear winter days they could enjoy sunshine on the hotel terrace without a jacket. If disappointed, he would reimburse all their costs. The Englishmen accepted and stayed until Easter, captivated by the brilliant Alpine winter sunshine. St. Moritz became Europe's first winter resort.

In the winter of 1884/85, the first Cresta Run was built near the hamlet of Cresta in Celerina, financed by Johannes and Caspar Badrutt and the Outdoor Amusement Committee of the Kulm Hotel. A 22-year-old Swiss geometrician named Peter Bonorand designed the course using mathematical calculations. The run was completed in January 1885 after nearly nine weeks of construction. The first 'Grand National Toboggan Race' took place on 16 January 1885, with a winner named Mr. Austin reaching average speeds above 40 km/h. The St. Moritz Tobogganing Club was formally established in 1887. The most infamous corner is Shuttlecock -- riders ejected there automatically become members of the exclusive Shuttlecock Club.

Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899) was an Italian-born painter who settled in the Engadine in 1894, captivated by its luminous Alpine light. He developed a distinctive Divisionist painting technique using small strokes of pure colour. His final masterwork was the Alpine Triptych: 'La Vita -- La Natura -- La Morte' (Life -- Nature -- Death), conceived for the 1900 Paris World Exhibition. In September 1899, while painting the final panel high on the Schafberg above Pontresina, he fell gravely ill (likely peritonitis) and died on 28 September 1899 in a small mountain hut now called the Segantinihuette. The Segantini Museum, opened in 1908, houses the world's most comprehensive collection of his work.

Johannes Badrutt was also a technological pioneer. After visiting the 1878 Paris World Exhibition and seeing the Jablochkoff arc lamp, he built a hydroelectric plant and installed electric lights in the Kulm Hotel's dining room on 18 July 1879, making St. Moritz one of the first places in Switzerland with electric light. By 1880, only 160 such lamps existed worldwide; eight were at the Kulm. In 1889, the Kulm introduced Switzerland's first public telephone network with 24 local connections.

Lake St. Moritz freezes solid each winter with ice 40-80 cm thick, transforming into one of the world's most spectacular natural sporting arenas. White Turf, founded in 1907, is an international horse racing event held on the frozen lake over three Sundays in February. The inaugural events featured Skikjoering -- a daring sport where skiers are towed by riderless thoroughbreds at high speed across the ice. White Turf is the only horse race in the world held on a frozen lake. Snow polo was first played on the frozen lake in 1985, making St. Moritz the birthplace of the global snow polo movement.

The Mauritius mineral spring in St. Moritz has been used since the late Bronze Age, around 1411 BC, as dated by dendrochronology and radiocarbon analysis of wooden headworks. Archaeological finds at the spring include Bronze Age votive offerings, swords, and needles, indicating the Celts venerated the water as sacred. The spring's wooden capture system -- two hollowed larch trunks surrounded by plank-and-log construction -- is considered the oldest preserved prehistoric wooden structure in Europe. In 1535, the physician Paracelsus visited and praised the springs as among the finest healing waters in Europe. Today, the Forum Paracelsus houses the spring and a museum.

The Rhaetian Railway's Albula and Bernina lines were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 7 July 2008. The Bernina line reaches its highest point at Ospizio Bernina (2,253 m) -- the highest railway crossing in the Alps with year-round traffic without rack-and-pinion. The route from St. Moritz to Tirano (Italy) crosses 196 bridges and viaducts, passes through 55 tunnels, and descends from glaciers to palm trees. Iconic highlights include the Landwasser Viaduct (65 m high, curving directly into a cliff-face tunnel), helical tunnels on the Albula line, and the Brusio Circular Viaduct -- a 360-degree spiral bridge.

The Museum Engiadinais (Engadine Museum) was built in 1906 on the initiative of collector Riet Campell, designed by architect Nicolaus Hartmann in traditional Engadine style. The exterior features characteristic sgraffito decorations (ornamental plasterwork scratched to reveal contrasting layers), Romansh inscriptions, and the traditional Erker (oriel window). Inside, 21 exhibition rooms display historical interiors spanning five centuries. The valley was historically Romansh-speaking -- part of the ancient Rhaeto-Romanic culture. Romansh is one of Switzerland's four national languages, recognised in a federal referendum in 1938, though by 2000 only 4.7% of St. Moritz's residents still spoke it.