Davos

Davos originally owes its importance to its healing climate, which has been known for around 150 years. The first guesthouse in Davos to accommodate spa guests opened in 1860. The immigrant German doctor Alexander Spengler created a treatment for lung patients, which mainly involved a lot of sleep on the Davos sun terraces and Veltliner wine. This method made Davos world famous and was also immortalized in the 1924 novel "The Magic Mountain" by Thomas Mann. In addition to Mann, numerous other writers, artists and philosophers traveled to Davos. They brought their own culture with them, made the spa town famous in their works or initiated the sports, event and cultural offerings that are now taken for granted.

Davos was at the forefront of the development of modern winter sports. The history of the world-famous Davos sledge began in the 19th century. The sledge got its name from the first, historic sledge race in Davos in 1883. In 1921, the Hockey Club Davos was founded in Davos, which is now both a myth and a living legend. The Spengler Cup, which was first held in 1923, is the oldest and most prestigious international ice hockey tournament in the world. The Parsenn Derby is the most traditional ski race in Switzerland and was held for the first time in 1924. Ten years later, the first ever T-bar ski lift was put into operation on the Bolgen. In modern times, Davos made headlines when it founded the freestyle scene in the 1980s. At that time, the Jakobshorn was the only mountain on which snowboarders were allowed to use the lifts.

Davos is the highest city in Europe (1560 m above sea level). Its range of offerings is unique in terms of quality and variety: first-class leisure opportunities in summer and winter in an intact, impressive mountain world, excellent meeting infrastructure, internationally renowned sports and cultural events, well-known museums, galleries and music festivals. With the characteristic alpine flat roof, Davos has developed its own unique architectural style. The Davos Ice Stadium (1981) is one of the most architecturally interesting of its kind in Europe. Excellent hotels, restaurants and shopping opportunities are other important advantages of the Alpine metropolis.

The development of attractive leisure activities beyond the urban centres made Davos a trendsetter for leisure stays in the mountains. Over 100 years ago, Davos was already entertaining guests with coffee houses, theatres, concerts and even six cinemas. This trendsetter role, which already represented a kind of "spirit of optimism" in Europe during the years of tuberculosis, has continued to this day in what is now the highest town in the Alps. The most varied nightlife in the Alps can also be found here. And there are numerous ski huts and snow bars that lure in visitors with lively après-ski fun. After all, the cradle of après-ski is here on the Jakobshorn fun mountain.

Davos is the clear leader in the global meeting market in the mountains. And with good reason: Davos has a rich meeting tradition, the most modern congress center in the Alps and, with the World Economic Forum (WEF), an event with outstanding international appeal. But Davos is much more than just a meeting city: the town is home to various renowned research stations such as the AO, the National Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, numerous specialized clinics and hospitals, and is an energy, education and knowledge city at the same time. All of this is embedded in a natural environment at 1560 m above sea level, which makes up what is known worldwide as the "Spirit of Davos".

The most important thing first: «The Magic Mountain» is the title of Thomas Mann's masterpiece novel. Thomas Mann got the inspiration for the story from his own stay in Davos. His wife Katia fell ill with atopic pulmonary catarrh and traveled to the Davos forest sanatorium for a treatment. This gave Thomas Mann well-founded, first-hand accounts of life in the sanatorium. His novel, which he worked on between 1913 and 1915 and which he completed in 1924 after a break of several years, was based on his impressions and letters that his wife wrote to him from the sanatorium.

Hans Castorp, the main character in Thomas Mann's novel "The Magic Mountain", visits his cousin in a Davos sanatorium, who is recovering in the Davos mountain air. Castorp - fascinated by life in the sanatorium - redefines the image of the sanatorium guests for himself. Life in the sanatorium becomes the measure of all things for Castorp... the "Magic Mountain". Five years after the novel was published, Thomas Mann received the Nobel Prize for Literature in Sweden, which made his entire work immortal.

On the Schatzalp, where readers of the Thomas Mann bestseller see The Magic Mountain as being set, the ambience and attitude to life in the midst of pure Art Nouveau architecture is almost as it was 100 years ago. The architecture of the sanatorium has been preserved. The terraces where the sanatorium visitors once recuperated are now used by hotel guests to sunbathe. And anyone who has ever been to the Schatzalp knows that here, enthroned above Davos, the place is truly magical - yesterday and today.

"The Magic Mountain" is therefore primarily a literary anecdote by Thomas Mann that has its roots in Davos. This is no coincidence, because at the beginning of the 20th century Davos was a magic mountain in the truest sense of the word: while tuberculosis was raging throughout Europe, not a single villager in Davos was ill. The healing effects of the Davos mountain air therefore became world-famous early on, attracting many international guests to Davos - including numerous writers, philosophers and artists, such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson. They brought their own culture with them, immortalized Davos in their works or invented commodities that are now taken for granted and for which the spa resort went down in history books.

The healthy mountain air combined with the pristine mountain scenery were two important building blocks for Davos' rise to become a world-famous health resort - the development of attractive leisure activities beyond the urbanized centers made Davos a trendsetter for leisure stays in the mountains. This trendsetter role, which back in the tuberculosis years meant a kind of "spirit of optimism", has continued in what is now the highest city in the Alps to this day.

As an energy city, Davos is committed to a sustainable energy policy: it improves the CO2 balance and strengthens climate protection. In 2001, Davos was the first municipality in Graubünden to be officially awarded the Energy City label by the Federal Office of Energy and the supporting association "Label Energy City". As an energy city, Davos is committed to a sustainable energy policy: it improves the CO2 balance and strengthens climate protection.