The Walser, Davos, Holsboer, the Zauberberg and Kirchner
8 August 2025
Before the arrival of the Walsers, the Davos area (Canton of Graubünden) was inhabited by Romansh-speaking people. The German-speaking Walser settled in the 13th century from Obervaz, Lenz, Brienz and Alvaneu. The area belonged to the barons of Vaz. The Walsers had the right to expand their living space. They founded other villages, such as Arosa, Lenzerheide, and many others.
Davos and its lake
Davos took on a leading political role in the Walser area, which united in 1436 to form the Zehngerichtebund, the League of the ten (sovereign) jurisdictions.
This League was the most democratic of the Three Leagues (Gotteshausbund, Grauer Bund and Zehngerichtenbund). The principle applied that the minority had to obey the majority. Davos was its meeting place, and the head of the Zehngerichtebund was Davos’s mayor (Landammann).
The Schweizerhaus
The Town Hall has been the political centre for more than 700 years. Its importance came after the founding of the Zehngerichtebund. The town hall also became the seat of the court. In 1559, the building, which dates back to the 13th century, was destroyed by fire; however, it was rebuilt a few years later. The town hall received its strict cubic form in 1930. The last renovation took place in
The English Church of St Luke was built in 1883 by the English colony in the style of a neo-Romanesque mountain church.
The first English guest arrived in Davos in 1869, and shortly thereafter, an increasing number of English people began to travel to the area. Many English people stayed in spa hotels or built villas. Thus, as in many other villages in the canton (and Switzerland), the English quarter developed. From 1891 to 1939, they maintained a consulate, a newspaper, and a library with 6,000 volumes, one of the largest English libraries on the continent.
Tourism began when Alexander Spengler from Germany and the Dutchman Willem Holsboer founded the spa Spengler-Holsboer in 1868. Holsboer was also responsible for constructing the railway from Landquart to Davos in 1890.
Collection: Waldhotel Davos
Hotels, sanatoriums and villas boomed. Summer- and winter sports came to Davos along with the spa guests.
The strong presence of the English can also be seen in the construction of the Belvedere Hotel, which was built according to the latest standards at the insistence of an Englishman.
The Congress Hall (Kongresszentrum)
Davos is also a conference and centre of scientific research nowadays, and is home to internationally renowned research institutes.
(Source: www. gemeindedavos.ch)
Thomas Mann, der Zauberberg, the Waldhotel and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
When you say Davos, you also say Thomas Mann (1875-1955) and Ernst-Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938). From May 15 to June 12, 1912, Thomas Mann stayed in the Haus am Stein, located below today’s Waldhotel Davos, the former Waldsanatorium.
His wife, Katia Mann (1883-1980), was staying there for a cure. Inspired by his impressions, he wrote ‘Der Zauberberg’ from 1913 to 1924. The book gave Davos and today’s Waldhotel a place in world literature.
The Waldhotel Davos will present the VR installation “Im Zauberberg” on August 8 and 28, and September 11, in the Thomas Mann Year 2025, which marks the 150th anniversary of the writer’s birth.
Impressions from the Waldhotel Davos. The Waldhotel dedicates some rooms, documentation and pictures to its past and famous guests.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was a German painter and graphic artist. He is one of the most important representatives of Expressionism and was a founding member of the Brücke group of artists. In 1917, he relocated to Davos, where he passed away in 1938. The Kirchner Museum Davos is dedicated to the artist.
The Waldhotel Davos today