Monte Verità Historic Complex

Gabriele Geronzi, Bruno Reichlin, Danilo Soldati, Carlo Zanetti Architects
Restorations from 2004 to 2022

The historic Monte Verità complex was born in 1900 from the vision of a group of life reformers, including Henri Oedenkoven, Ida Hofmann, Karl Gräser and Gusto Gräser, who founded in Ascona an alternative community based on naturist and vegetarian ideals and on living in harmony with nature.
Monte Verità rises on the hills overlooking Ascona and Lake Maggiore, and has always been a magnetic meeting point for ideas, trends, experimentation and historical figures.
The alternative vegetarian colony of the early twentieth century marked the birth of the Monte Verità legend, with the presence of artists, anarchists, philosophers and thinkers and illustrious guests, among them Hermann Hesse. During the years of the Great War, the place became a community of artists, the cradle of modern dance, and hosted Expressionists, future Dadaists and talents from everywhere.
In 1926 the hill was purchased by the German banker and art collector Baron Eduard von der Heydt, who transformed Monte Verità into a luxurious hotel centre which, besides an aristocratic clientele, continued to welcome artists and intellectuals.
On the Baron's death in 1964, the entire property was donated to the Canton of Ticino, and today Monte Verità is run by the foundation of the same name. A multifaceted place, since 1989 it has been the congress platform of ETH Zurich, a hotel and restaurant and a cultural centre.
The museum complex includes Casa Anatta, with the permanent exhibition Monte Verità. Le mammelle della verità by Harald Szeemann, the Elisarion Pavilion housing the circular painting Il Chiaro mondo dei beati by Elisàr von Kupffer, Casa Selma and Casa dei Russi, the first dwellings of the colony's founders. Each year a cultural calendar is offered with exhibitions and events dedicated to art, philosophy, literature and current affairs.