Upper Engadine Cultural Archives Explained

Native Name:Kulturarchiv Oberengadin
Native Name Lang:de
Upper Engadine Cultural Archives
Country:Switzerland
Location:Samedan
Coordinates:46.5344°N 9.8719°W
Director:Kurt Gritsch[1]
Num Employees:5
Website:www.kulturarchiv.ch

The Upper Engadine Cultural Archives is collecting of historical records and documents from Upper Engadine (Switzerland) and the neighbouring region.[2] 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.[3]

Activities

The goal of the Archives is to collect and conduct research on the cultural heritage of the Upper Engadine and the surrounding regions.[4] 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.[5]

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 50,000 negatives about the Engadine,[6] 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.

Dora Lardelli was the founder and director of the archives from 1988 to 2023.[7] Many volonteers support the archives.[8]

Gallery

Examples from the picture collection:

Bibliography

Publications about the Archives

Publications edited by the Archives

References

  1. https://salto.bz/de/article/21012024/wir-sind-eben-unvermeidbar „Wir sind eben unvermeidbar“, salto.bz, 2024-01-24 (German)
  2. Web site: Kulturarchiv Oberengadin — Chesas da Cultura Engiadina . 2024-07-12 . www.cultura-engiadina.ch . en.
  3. Web site: Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance. 1 January 2017. A-Objects . Federal Office for Cultural Protection (BABS) . 6 September 2017.
  4. Web site: Kulturarchiv Oberengadin: Allgemeine Informationen . 2024-07-12 . www.kulturarchiv.ch . de.
  5. Web site: Kulturarchiv Oberengadin – Publication. www.snf.org. 20 November 2018.
  6. Web site: Kulturarchiv Oberengadin: Archivbestände . 2024-07-12 . www.kulturarchiv.ch . de.
  7. Web site: Die Frau der Kultur ist nicht mehr . 2024-07-12 . www.engadinerpost.ch . de.
  8. Web site: Kulturarchiv Oberengadin: Mitarbeiter . 2024-07-12 . www.kulturarchiv.ch . de.

External links