Creating Wilderness: A Transnational History of the Swiss National Park

277 Pages·2014·4.198 MB·English

by  Patrick Kupper

CREATING WILDERNESS
Th e Environment in History: International Perspectives
Series Editors: Dolly Jørgensen, Umea University; David Moon, University of
York; Christof Mauch, LMU Munich; Helmuth Trischler, Deutsches Museum,
Munich
Volume 1
Civilizing Nature: National Parks in Global Historical Perspective
Edited by Bernhard Gissibl, Sabine Höhler, and Patrick Kupper
Volume 2
Powerless Science? Science and Politics in a Toxic World
Edited by Soraya Boudia and Natalie Jas
Volume 3
Managing the Unknown: Essays on Environmental Ignorance
Edited by Frank Uekotter and Uwe Lübken
Volume 4
Creating Wildnerness: A Transnational History of the Swiss National Park
Patrick Kupper
Creating Wilderness
A Transnational History of
the Swiss National Park
/
Patrick Kupper
Translated by Giselle Weiss
berghahn
N E W Y O R K (cid:127) O X F O R D
www.berghahnbooks.com
Published by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
English-language edition
©2014 Patrick Kupper
German-language edition
©2012 Haupt Bern
Wildnis schaffen. Eine transnationale Geschichte des Schweizerischen Nationalparks
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kupper, Patrick.
[Wildnis schaffen. English]
Creating wilderness : a transnational history of the Swiss National Park / Patrick
Kupper ; translated by Giselle Weiss.
pages cm. — (The environment in history : international perspectives ; volume 4)
Translation of: Wildnis schaffen : eine transnationale Geschichte des Schweizerischen
Nationalparks. Bern : Haupt, 2012.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-78238-373-4 (hardback : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-1-78238-374-1 (ebook)
1. Schweizerischer Nationalpark (Switzerland)—History. 2. Nature conservation—
Switzerland—History. I. Title.
SB484.S9K88 2014
333.7209494—dc23
2013044896
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Printed on acid-free paper
ISBN: 978–1-78238-373-4 hardback
ISBN: 978–1-78238-374-1 ebook
/
Contents
List of Figures vi
Acknowledgments viii
List of Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. Global Parks: National Parks, Globalization, and
Western Modernism 15
Chapter 2. National Natures: Th e Swiss National Park and the
Conservationist Internationale 38
Chapter 3. Local Landscapes: Political Spaces, Institutional
Arrangements, and Subjective Attitudes 70
Chapter 4. Total Protection: Philosophy and Practice of
Freely Developing Nature 107
Chapter 5. Ecological Field Laboratory: Th e Park as a
Scientifi c Experiment 137
Chapter 6. Wilderness Limits: Natural Dynamics and
Social Equilibrium 175
Conclusion 219
Bibliography 226
Index 255
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Figures
Charts
Chart 1. Population development in the regions of the Upper
Engadine, Lower Engadine, Val Müstair, and in St. Moritz and
the fi ve national park communities, 1850–2000 78
Chart 2. Yearly number of researchers and the number of
workdays spent in the park, 1918–60 169
Chart 3. Annual overnight stays in the Cluozza hut, 1926–2008 190
Chart 4. Number of visitors to the Swiss National Park, 1955–2008 195
Chart 5. Development of stocks of chamois, ibex, and red deer in the
Swiss National Park, 1915–2010 204
Chart 6. Cost of damage caused by wildlife in the area of the Swiss
National Park and for feed in the area of Zuoz-Brail, 1962–99 206
Maps
Map 1. Location of the Swiss National Park in the Rhaetian Alps and
the southeastern corner of Switzerland (GIS-SNP, Swiss National
Park, Spatial Information Department) 2
Map 2. Southeastern Switzerland (GIS-SNP, Swiss National Park,
Spatial Information Department) 76
Map 3. Changes in the park area. (GIS-SNP, Swiss National Park,
Spatial Information Department) 88
Map 4. Hydraulic installations. (GIS-SNP, Swiss National Park, Spatial
Information Department) 183
Figures vii
Illustrations
Illustration 1. Switzerland? Promotion of Glacier National Park by NPS
in 1933. (US National Park Service, George A. Grant Collection) 23
Illustration 2. Paul Sarasin and Fritz Bühlmann, ENPK president and
secretary, at the entry to Val Cluozza, c. 1920. (Swiss National Park) 57
Illustration 3. Carl Schröter and Steivan Brunies on Murtèr ridge in
1912. (Staatsarchiv Graubünden, Swiss National Park Photograph
Collection) 81
Illustration 4. Park map published in the March 1910 issue of the
journal Heimatschutz. (Heimatschutz 3/1910, annexe 2) 84
Illustration 5. Fallen trees decaying “in peace,” Munt la Schera, c. 1920.
(Swiss National Park, Collection Hermann Langen) 110
Illustration 6. Introduction of ibex at Murtèr above Val Cluozza in the
1920s. (Swiss National Park, Collection Hermann Langen) 114
Illustration 7. SBN membership promotion of 1909. (Pro Natura) 127
Illustration 8. Figure from Schütz et al. 2000a. Combination of the
two time-series. 167
Illustration 9. Cover of the 1942 guide to the Swiss National Park
(Verkehrsverein Graubünden 1942) 193
Illustration 10. Dead red deer at the train station of Lavin in spring
1951, attracting children and photographer Rudolf Grass. (Rudolf
Grass) 203
Tables
Table 1. Changes in the park area, 1910–2010 86
Table 2. Recalculation of annual compensation, 1959 88
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Acknowledgments
Th is book has been fi ve years in the making. For me it represents a very reward-
ing period out of which emerged experiences and encounters that will stay with
me always, along with the memory of the support and friendship that I received.
For their generous encouragement of my work throughout this time I would
like especially to thank David Gugerli, Christof Mauch, and Th omas Scheu-
rer. Another big helping of thanks goes to Brigitta Bernet, Harald Fischer-Tiné,
Bernhard Gissibl, Lea Haller, Sabine Höhler, Jon Mathieu, and Daniel Speich.
Th eir constructive criticism benefi ted me enormously. I am deeply grateful to
the many people who provided countless bits of information, suggestions, and
tips both in person and in writing. Th anks also to those who provided help with
my research: the archivists and librarians in Zurich, Bern, Basel, Chur, Munich,
and Washington, DC, as well as the staff of the communes of Scuol and Zernez
and the Swiss National Park. I would like in particular to express my apprecia-
tion to Flurin Filli, Heinrich Haller, Ruedi Haller, Hans Lozza, Isabelle Mauz,
Jürg Paul Müller, Mario Negri, Jonathan Putnam, and Erika Zimmermann. Fi-
nally, I owe my deepest debt of gratitude to my family and to everyone who
stuck with us through the not-infrequently chaotic days.
Th is book was made possible by a generous grant from the Swiss National
Science Foundation. Preliminary studies in 2006 were funded by the Research
Council of the Swiss National Park and the professorship for History of Tech-
nology at ETH Zurich, which also off ered me a stimulating working environ-
ment from 2006 to 2011. In 2007 a fellowship from the Schnitter-Fonds für
Technikgeschichte made possible a four-month research stay at the German
Historical Institute in Washington, DC. In 2010 an invitation to the Rachel
Carson Center in Munich allowed me to focus intensively on writing for six
months. To these institutions and their staff s I extend my heartfelt thanks.
Producing the translation naturally entailed a reworking of the text, which
I have adjusted and updated where necessary without fundamentally changing
the structure or argumentation. Th e translation was funded by the Research
Council of the Swiss National Park and the professorship for History of Tech-
nology at ETH Zurich. I would like to thank my translator, Giselle Weiss, for
her skilled and sensitive work and Franziska Hupfer and Markos P. Carelos for
their help in preparing the manuscript for publication and constructing the
index.
/
Abbreviations
ENPK Eidgenössische Nationalparkkommission (Federal National Park
Commission)
EKW Engadiner Kraft werke (Engadine Power Company)
FOK SNP Forschungskommission des Schweizerischen Nationalparks
(Research Council of the Swiss National Park)
IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature
NPS National Park Service (USA)
NZZ Neue Zürcher Zeitung
SBN Schweizerischer Bund für Naturschutz (Swiss League for Nature
Protection today Pro Natura)
SNG Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft (Swiss Natural
History Society, today Swiss Academy of Sciences SCNAT)
SNK Schweizerische Naturschutzkommission (Swiss Commission for
Nature Protection)
SNP Schweizerischer Nationalpark (Swiss National Park)
UNEP United Nation Environmental Programme
WNPK Wissenschaft liche Nationalparkkommission (Committee for
Scientifi c Research in the National Park, today FOK SNP)