Kleines Zermatter Brevier

Publication Year: 1950.

Kleines Zermatter Brevier, by Paul Budry and Werner Kaempfen. 159 pages, with sketches by Géa Augsburg. Brigue and Lausanne: Visp-Zermatt-Bahn-Gesellschaft, 1941.

In 1941, when the Visp-Zermatt railroad had been in existence for half a century, 3000 copies of this little book were published in German and 1750 in French. In 1943, 2000 more copies in German were printed. The book is an anthological history of the Zermatt valley, with items arranged in alphabetical order. A is for Anfang: in the beginning was the Matterhorn. This precedes A for Alpinismus. Z is for Zermatt. In between, there are many things of interest, some of them not generally known. One learns of the coming of the railroad, Visp to Zermatt, Zermatt to Gornergrat; of Spelterini’s balloon flight, which the younger Seiler used to advertise the Zermatt hotels; of the famous César Ritz’s service as a waiter in the Hotel Monte Rosa. There is a great deal more, and the illustrations are most attractive.