Upper Engadine Cultural Archives

The Upper Engadine Cultural Archives is collecting of historical records and documents from Upper Engadine (Switzerland) and the neighbouring region. The Archives are housed in the Chesa Planta, a 16th century house in Samedan. The building and its library are a Swiss heritage sites of national significance.[2]

Upper Engadine Cultural Archives
Kulturarchiv Oberengadin
46°32′4″N 9°52′19″E
LocationSamedan, Switzerland
Established1988 (1988)
Other information
DirectorDora Lardelli (1988–2023)[1]
Websitewww.kulturarchiv.ch

Activities

The goal of the Archives is to collect and conduct research on the cultural heritage of the Upper Engadine and the surrounding regions. The organization makes its materials accessible to the public and addresses the arts, architecture, language, music, nature study, development of hotels, tourism, traffic and sport in the Engadine.[3]

Since it was established in 1988, the Archives received or purchased more than 500 inheritances and gifts, consisting of posthumous productions, documentations and documents on art, architecture, language, music, natural history etc. Some of the most important available records are the family inheritance of the physicians Berry from St. Moritz, a collection of photographs by Gustav Sommer of Samedan, which includes over 40,000 negatives about the Engadine, 3,000 letters of the families Puonz, Curtin, Fonio from Sils – confectioners and ale brewers in Berlin, 420 Engadine photographs by Elizabeth Main (Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed), the inheritance of the architect Max Alioth of St. Moritz, drawings and sketches of the ornamental painter Kaspar Donatsch of Celerina, as well as the inheritance of Elvezia Michel, the artist from Borgonovo, Bregaglia.

Examples from the picture collection:

  • Skating on the lake of Sils. Photographed by Elizabeth Main
    Skating on the lake of Sils. Photographed by Elizabeth Main
  • The musicians Fränzli near Sils, ca. 1900
    The musicians Fränzli near Sils, ca. 1900
  • Kulm-Wiese St. Moritz, ca. 1900
    Kulm-Wiese St. Moritz, ca. 1900
  • Camel in the middle of St. Moritz, ca. 1890
    Camel in the middle of St. Moritz, ca. 1890
  • The lake of St. Moritz, ca. 1890
    The lake of St. Moritz, ca. 1890
  • Samedan ca. 1930, with the Chesa Planta
    Samedan ca. 1930, with the Chesa Planta

Bibliography

Publications about the Archives
  • Dora Lardelli: Das Kulturarchiv Oberengadin – eine Pionierinstitution, in: Bündner Jahrbuch, Chur 2016
  • Karl Wüst: Kulturarchiv Oberengadin in Samedan GR. „Bei Anfragen sage ich nie nein“, in: Da, wo etwas los ist. 15 Kulturorte in der Schweiz, Limmat Verlag, Zürich 2016
  • Das Kulturarchiv Oberengadin feiert sein 25-Jahr-Jubiläum, in: Südostschweiz, 22. Juli 2013
  • Gion Gaudenz und andere: 10 Jahre Kulturarchiv Oberengadin 1989–1999. Samedan 1999

Publications edited by the Archives
  • Das Engadin auf Glasplatten. Gustav Sommer 1882–1956. Hrsg. vom Kulturarchiv Oberengadin. Montabella Verlag, St. Moritz 2015
  • Dora Lardelli: The Magic Carpet. Kunstreise zu den Oberengadiner Hotels, 1850–1914. Hrsg. vom Kulturarchiv Oberengadin. Eine Publikation des Instituts für Kulturforschung Graubünden ikg, Chur. Verlag Skira, Mailand und Genf, 2010. Italienische und deutsche Ausgabe.
  • List of publications

References
  1. Dora Lardelli, Die Frau der Kultur ist nicht mehr 31 January 2023
  2. "Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance". A-Objects. Federal Office for Cultural Protection (BABS). 1 January 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  3. "Kulturarchiv Oberengadin – Publication". www.snf.org. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
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