In the mid 20's German Baron Eduard von der Heydt, purchased the land where the colony surged. The wealthy tycoon intended to create a 'universal village' where international politics, finance, culture and ideologies could be cohabitant free of prejudice and take advantage from the recognized healing proprieties of the area. In 1928 he commissioned Bauhaus architect Emil Fahrenkamp to built the Hotel Monte Verita', initiating the tourist development of the whole region. Another interesting Bauhaus building on the hill is the Teatro San Materno, built between 1927 and 1928 by architect Karl Weidemeyer, on a brief by Belgian dancer Charlotte Bara, who aimed to perpetuate the modern dance heritage of great innovators and former Monte Verita' guests: the Russian Rudolf Von Laban and the Brit Mary Wigman.

In the 50's, mass tourism started its conquest of Ticino, and most of the wild mysterious charm got irreparably lost. If the true Monte-Veritaneans, did not leave a visible mark on history, many visitors of the mount did: Hermann Hesse, D.H. Lawrence, Alfred Kubin and James Joyce in literature, Mary Wigman and Isadora Duncan in modern dance, Alexey von Jawlensky, Paul Klee, Hans Arp, Tristan Tzara and Oskar Schlemmer in art, Sigmund Freud and C.G. Jung in Psychoanalysis and Walter Gropius in architecture. The Ascona way of life was an idea imported from strangers, and predictably little influenced the local population, which could hardly relate to the eccentricities of its guests. Still today the term 'balabiott'(naked dancer in local dialect) is used to describe weirdos; nudism was common practice on the colony at the Monte Verità.

The Hotel Monte Verita', The Teatro San Materno, the Casa Anatta (small museum in original wooden building of the time of the colony) and the melancholic surrounding woods, are the only witnesses of a movement that tried in vane the return to a life in tune with nature and the cosmos. Sadly Speculation has won over our heritage, and Ascona has turned into a giant deluxe resort.

This is only a small introduction to the history of the Monte verità, and purely reflects my own opinions.

Giulia Maria Beretta