Movie Stories about the forgotten porters on the Säntis

A docu-drama pays tribute to the Säntisträger: brave men who once made the weather station on the mountain in eastern Switzerland possible. The visually stunning film "Hölde - Die stillen Helden vom Säntis" by Victor Rohner and Kuno Bont is now being released in cinemas.

"Up here," the ambitious St.Gallen scientist Robert Billwiller is said to have enthused on the Säntis summit, "the world literally reaches up into the sky and the weather is within reach. It was thanks to him and one of his colleagues that a year-round weather observation station was built there in 1879.

In the shadow of the scientists lived the quiet "Hölde", as they say in Appenzell. They are the subject of this film. The porters who made life on the Säntis possible in the first place. In other words, the lives of the people at the weather station, who lived for months in solitude on the summit and persevered in order to send data down into the world. Brave farmers from Innerrhoden took care of them all year round, whatever the weather.

They humped everything that was needed up the mountain three times a week - often at the risk of their lives. Many never returned to the valley because they were caught in an avalanche or fell between Säntis and Messmer, an alp in the Alpstein. With the opening of the Säntis suspension railroad in 1935, the "Hölde" fell into oblivion.

Reenacted at original locations

Just as the "archetype of mountain", as it is called at the beginning of the film, is fascinating in itself, the stories surrounding the Säntis are captivating. The idea for the film came from director Victor Rohner, who is said to have made the decision to actually shoot it while trekking at the foot of Mount Everest. A good decision: the visually stunning film is convincing from start to finish.

This is partly thanks to its form. In the docu-drama, scenes are re-enacted at the original locations, statements from contemporary witnesses are conveyed and old photographs are shown. And the famous Säntis murder in 1922, in which a married couple died on the mountain? This is one of many stories about the Wetterberg and its "Hölde". Apropos: For cinemas outside the region, there is a version with subtitles so that the heroes can be understood.

*This text by Nina Kobelt, Keystone-SDA, was realized with the help of the Gottlieb and Hans Vogt Foundation.

SDA