Snapshot:
St. Moritz, 1919

byDora Filli
The large hotels with their ice surfaces are clearly visible, including the Grand Hotel (to the right of Badrutt's Palace Hotel), which was destroyed by fire in 1944. Above the village, the Chantarella railway built in 1913 with the Hotel Chantarella.

In 1919, Walter Mittelholzer and his military colleague Alfred Comte founded Mittelholzer and Co, aerial photo publishing company and passenger flights. A large collection of aerial photographs from all over Switzerland dates from this time. In 1920, this company merged with the financially stronger Ad Astra Aero. Mittelholzer became director and chief pilot of Ad Astra Aero, which later became Swissair.

In the 1930s, Swissair regularly operated passenger flights between Zurich and St. Moritz. The planes landed and took off on the frozen lake of St. Moritz.

Credits: ETH-Bibliothek Zurich, Bildarchiv/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz /
Photographer: Mittelholzer, Walter / LBS_MH01-001488 / Public Domain Mark

live
00.00.0000 00:00

The newest issue of St. Moritz – Views from the Top is available at the Tourist Office and online!•Spring in St. Moritz – warm sunshine, birds chirping and slushy snow.•Inspiration for Spring?•