Author: Maarten Koning

The village of Ftan is located on the south side of a mountain ridge in the middle of Unterengadin, between Ardez and Scuol. There are two Ftans: Ftan Pitschen (the small Ftan) and Ftan Grond (the big Ftan).

The area extends north into the Silvretta region, with the border of Paznaun (Austria), the Futschöl Pass, and the 3,230-metre-high Augstenberg (Piz Blaisch Lunga).

The great importance of the Futschöl Pass has been proven by archaeologists, who have found traces of prehistoric human presence dating back 10.500 years. This region was also inhabited during the Roman period, with notable practices including Alpine agriculture and cattle breeding.

The medieval ones also reveal centuries-old disputes between the villages of Ardez and Ftan over meadows, pastures, and access to the Futschol Pass. The Counts of Tyrol, the Habsburgs, the bishopric of Chur, and the monasteries of Marienberg (South Tyrol) and Müstair disputed control of the Lower Engadine until the valley bought itself freedom from Habsburg rule in 1652. By then, it had joined the Gotteshausbund.

Ftan has been hit by avalanches (1682, 1720 and current threats), fires (1723, 1784 and 1885) and wars (1499, Engadine, Schweizer or Swabian War (depending on perspective) and in 1622 during the Bündner Wirren (1619-1639).

It was a predominantly agricultural area. Some inhabitants of Ftans chose military careers and returned wealthy from service in the French or Dutch armies. For example, Jon Peider Schmid de Grüneg served the French king in the Bündner regiment and reached the high rank of lieutenant colonel. Augustin de Saint-Aubin (1736-1807), gravure 1774, La contredanse française.

The most relevant dances at the French court and for the bourgeoisie at the end of the eighteenth century were the contredanses and the menuet. (Bron: Erika Schneiter, “Contredanses in plaats van ordes: the ‘Contredanses françaises’ van Martin Peider Padrotsch Schmid von Grüneg zu Ftan”, in Bündner Monatsblatt, uitgave 5, 1992).

His nephew Martin Peider Padrotsch Schmid von Grüneg also served in this regiment and wrote the ‘Contredanses françaises’. It is how ‘Haute Culture’ reached the Engadine. Dances were essential to the education and culture of aristocratic society and the wealthy bourgeoisie.

In autumn 1792, after the storming of the Tuileries in Paris, priest Andrea Rosius à Porta (1754-1838) returned to his native village of Ftan, where he opened a private school on 1 October 1793, the Institut à Porta. He enriched education with Romanesque teaching material, “Il magister amiaivel” (the kind teacher). Due to competition from public schools, the institute closed its doors in 1869. But half a century later, the Hochalpine Institut Ftan opened its doors. In 1993, the boarding school was also founded, the name changed to “Hochalpines Institut / Institut otalpin Ftan”.

(Source and further information: P. E. Grimm, J. Wirth, Ftan, Scuol, 2016)

Mario Botta (1943), an architect from Tessin, worked on this project for 15 years. The bathing complex Fortyseven along the banks of the Limmat River is 160 metres long and has eleven saunas and eight water pools.

Fourteen springs bubbling from the earth provide the water. The complex is not a water theme park. The beneficial and healing effect of the spring water is the primary focus. The name also refers to this use: the sulphur water from the springs has a maximum temperature of 47 °C.

Baden was already prominent in Roman times because of its thermal baths. The Roman name was, therefore, Aquae Helveticae, Helvetic waters. For this reason, the legionary camp Vindonissa (today’s Windisch) was established there. The Vindonissa Museum shows this history and the amphitheatre of Vindonissa.

Baden became the largest spa centre north of the Alps in the Middle Ages. After the Confederation (Eidgenossenschaft) occupied the Habsburg Aargau in 1415, Baden became the meeting place of the Confederation’s Tagsatzung (States General). The presence of the springs played an essential role in this decision.

Residenz and Brasserie Bad Schwanen

However, the great heyday was in the 19th century. Investors built huge hotels and spas along the Limmat. Some of them, such as the Verenahof, Ochsen, and Bären, still exist.

The Grand Hotel, three times as big (!) as the current new complex of 160 metres, was demolished in 1944. The casino, Kurtheater, Kurpark and Kursaal in the centre of the city are reminders of the grandeur of the Belle Époque.

After the First World War, the health resorts in Switzerland and Baden declined. The old Roman quarter on the Limmat, with splendid hotels and Spas, sank into a deep sleep.

The initiative of investors in 2006, combined with the architect’s creativity and craftsmanship, the involvement of Denkmalpflege and Heimatschutz, and the commitment of local authorities, companies, and citizens, has reawakened the Sleeping Beauty of Swiss spas.

Bathing in Open-Air Springs

On the banks of the Limmat River, the Bagni Populari Association (Verein) has revived the old tradition of hot springs accessible to all.  Aquae Helveticae still seems to be an appropriate name.

On the other side of the recently opened Fortyseven bathing complex in Baden (Canton Aargau), another opening occurred in November, marking the revival of this two-thousand-year-old bathing culture.

The hot springs in Baden produce thousands of litres a day. In Roman times (15 B.C.- c. 400 A.D.), the numerous bathing houses (thermae) and springs were freely accessible to the inhabitants and soldiers from the nearby legionary camp of Vindonissa (today’s Windisch).

After the immigration/invasion of the Alemanni in the fifth century, the bathing culture disappeared. However, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Baden again became the most important bathing resort in Central Europe.

However, there is one notable difference with Roman times: the aristocracy and bourgeoisie had their own bathing houses. Ordinary people used the many hot springs in the open air. This tradition continued until 1870.

In this period, the large bathhouses and spas for the Beau Monde were built in the city’s bathing district (the Roman quarter). This clientele shouldn’t be confronted with poor people bathing in the open air on their way to their destination. The open-air baths disappeared, and a ban was even in force until recently.

The association Bagni populari, founded in 2017, has taken the initiative to reopen these springs (between 37 and 43 degrees Celsius, depending on the outside temperature) to the public. After all, the springs still exist, and they otherwise go straight into the Limmat.

And an artificial hot open air spring in Basel (15 December 2025)!