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15. May 2004, 23:45, Swissinfo

Searching for truth on Monte Verità

 

Ascona is Switzerland’s most popular southern resort, but

the cradle of European counterculture is only a shadow of

its former self.

 

Swiss-Germans and Germans come for a relaxing holiday on the

lakeside, most unaware that leading European anarchists once

tried to build a utopian society here.

 

"Today, tourists come by the busload, and they're badly

dressed," laments 82-year-old Ascona resident, Ursula

Roelli. "It's not like it once was."

 

Roelli is the daughter of the Swiss-German architect who

built the Bauhaus hotel on Monte Verità (mountain of truth)

in 1927, the name of the hill overlooking Ascona.

 

Monte Verità was also the name of the alternative society

founded there more than 100 years ago when a handful of

European intellectuals decided to start a movement based on

a primitive form of socialism and vegetarianism.

 

Anarchists

 

News of the society quickly spread, and soon anarchists from

across the continent were descending on the poor fishing

village.

 

They came to experiment, and were frowned upon by the

villagers because of their beliefs and the fact that they

carried out many of their experiments in the nude.

 

"The women of Ascona always had to wear black," remembers

Roelli. "The local people were very religious so of course

they didn't like what was going on there."

 

By the 1930s Monte Verità had gone through various

transformations, moving away from its strictly utopian

principles.

 

It became a centre for experimental dance and attracted many

artists and writers: Hermann Hesse, Paul Klee and Aleksey

von Jawlensky, to name but a few.

 

Counterculture

 

Everyone from Mahatma Gandhi and George Orwell to Germany's

National Socialists "fed on a living stream of thought that

had its source in Ascona", wrote American professor Martin

Green in his book, "Mountain of Truth. The Counterculture

begins."

 

But the truth of the matter is that counterculture moved on

to other places, and by the 1950s Ascona was on its way to

becoming what it is today: a chic holiday resort and place

in the sun where northern Europeans go to retire.

 

"It would be good to invite artists here again; writers and

painters with new ideas who could breath life back into the

place," says Claudio Rosetti, director of the international

conference centre that has taken over the Monte Verità site.

Spirit

 

"However, one still does sense the spirit of Monte Verità,"

Rosetti continues as he opens the door to the museum devoted

to the alternative movement.

 

The Casa Anatta building, which houses the museum, was one

of the first constructed by the utopians.

 

"It's unfortunate that the conference centre, run by

Zurich's Institute of Technology, is closed to all but

scholars. That's why I would like to open it up more for

cultural events."

 

Michele Vester, who lives close to the renovated Bauhaus

hotel, believes Monte Verità has remained a special place.

 

"You can still feel the energy that drew so many interesting

people from all over the world," says the interior decorator.

 

"Artists who came here -- and still come here -- have done

some of their most inspired work on Monte Verità," he adds.

Self-sufficient

 

Vester's grandfather, Karl, came to Ascona in 1900 and

became one of the movement's first members, eventually

building his own house on the hill overlooking a lush

subtropical garden and Lake Maggiore.

 

Vester, who now lives in the house, says it was his

grandfather's wish to create his own utopia, where he tried

to live as self-sufficiently as possible, baking his own

bread and keeping a small herd of goats.

 

"He made special bread but he smelled terribly of goats,"

laughs Ursula Roelli. "He was the last of that first group

to remain on Monte Verità."

 

Besides Roelli's memories, there are pictures in the Casa

Anatta of the longhaired Vester, and many of his companions,

dancing and gardening in the nude.

 

swissinfo, Dale Bechtel in Ascona

 

Diesen Artikel finden Sie auf NZZ Online unter:

http://www.nzz.ch/2004/05/15/english/page-synd4910399.html