TOURISM POSTER EXHIBITION
Natural and technological wonders
Cableways and funicular railways in Switzerland in posters from 1890 to 1960
Cableways and funicular railways for transporting people up Swiss mountains were built from the closing decades of the 19th century, inspired by a great utopian vision of allowing families of tourists - since tourism was already then developing into a mass phenomenon - to enjoy the thrill and excitement of the great outdoors, exploring unspoilt landscapes and marvelling at Alpine scenery. During the 19th century and throughout the entire Romantic era, these landscapes had been the privilege of the local population and small groups of hardy hikers who had extolled the beauty of the region in novels and letters published and eagerly read the world over.
Advances in mechanical engineering technology, from steel cable-drawn funiculars and cog-wheel railways, to cableways and chairlifts, made it easier to reach the heights and peaks which soon became veritable tourist attractions.
The posters created for these new destinations sought to combine the epic legend of a magnificent, rugged landscape with the guarantee of safe, reliable transport and mountain-top hospitality in the form of shelters, hotels and restaurants purpose-built to provide tourists with a warm welcome in comfortable, relaxing surroundings. Originally intended to promote leisurely trips to the mountains, over the course of the 20th century the purpose of these posters
increasingly shifted to the promotion of mountain sports, eventually supplanting the original images with adventure-packed images of challenging walks and climbs.
Over the generations, these places have managed to retain their unique allure, remaining a key selling point for Swiss tourism, as legendary as ever. The posters selected for the exhibition feature only a tiny number of the funicular and cable-driven systems dotted all over Switzerland. They depict local tourist spots - some rather off the beaten track and others which are internationally renowned – and span a period of over seventy years.
Artistic consultation and texts by Paolo Blendinger
The exhibition was organized with the help of Hans Kaspar Schiesser, UTP Bern
