The trip to the Fex Valley has inspired numerous writers. Some, such as Hermann Hesse, were overwhelmed by the nature, others had an ironic view of the city dwellers seeking relaxation. The Berlin writer Kurt Tucholsky wrote: «When they walk through the countryside, they become so sophisticated behind their backs.» Friedrich Dürrenmatt, also a frequent guest in Sils, created a literary monument to the Hotel Sonne Fex in his last work (Turmbau. Stoffe IV–IX, 1990) that is well worth reading.
For once, don't sit in a large concert hall, don't attend a microphone-amplified reading with hundreds of listeners, but be very close. Beyond the urban spectacle, enjoy the proximity and often downright intimate atmosphere in which art remains accessible, touching and stimulating.
Two of our most well-known cultural events are dedicated to the two Sils summer guests who discovered their love for this place early on and renewed it on a regular basis: the annual Nietzsche Colloquium and the Sils Hesse Days. These international conferences are complemented by the Sils Art and LiteraTour Days, which combine the enjoyment of art and culture with an intensive experience of nature in a combination of readings, lectures, concerts and cultural hikes. Renowned artists and young talents inspire the audience.
In Sils, you can experience renowned artists in an intimate setting: for example, at our international concert series featuring chamber music and recitals, or at the numerous musical events at the Hotel Waldhaus and Hotel Edelweiss. At the summer Sunday afternoon open-air concerts at the Fex concert venue, nature becomes the stage, as it does at the "Concerts Panoramics," a concert series in the garden of the Biblioteca Engiadinaisa, which builds upon the popular Watermark Concerts.
Some of these places are also museums: the Nietzsche House houses the original room in which the philosopher resided for seven summers. In addition to a fascinating permanent exhibition, there are also annually changing art exhibitions with contemporary works to admire. Or the Chesa Fonio, which houses the SILS MUSEUM and exhibits works by the artist Andrea Robbi and also serves as a gallery for contemporary art and a cultural center. Not to forget the Gallaria Chesina, which presents modern and old paintings as well as wooden sculptures and jewelry, and the Fex Gallery in Fex Curtins.
The inconspicuous house on the Via da Marias is a memorial as well as a museum, library and place of exchange. Here you can delve deeply into the life of the brilliant thinker and poet: The exhibition includes manuscripts, photographic documents, first editions of his works, the original furniture from his Basel period, the two death masks and much more. This has already given rise to legendary exhibitions: In 1992, for example, Gerhard Richter exhibited a series of painted-over photographs of the Upper Engadin landscape in the house. For an overnight stay, the Nietzsche House offers simply furnished double rooms for a limited stay.
You know the Giacometti family. And you know Giovanni Segantini. But Andrea Robbi? The Engadin painter, who died in 1945, was only discovered in the mid-1980s. Robbi came from a family of confectioners who emigrated from Sils and was born in Carrara (Italy) in 1864. The Sils Museum in the Chesa Fonio is showing oil paintings as well as drawings and watercolors by the Sils artist as part of an exhibition. A discovery for art lovers.
The Sils Cultural Office, known as KUBUS for short, is both the source of ideas and the organizer of many of our cultural events. The prudent commitment of KUBUS directors Dr. Mirella Carbone and Joachim Jung ensures that Sils is a special meeting place: international, inspiring, personal - and warm. Some of the events take place in the Chesa Fonio. This is also where KUBUS is based.
Thomas Mann and Hermann Hesse wrote in the reading room of the Hotel Waldhaus. Almost everything has remained as it was when Nobel Prize winners from the worlds of culture and science stayed at the Waldhaus.
The diverse guided tours offered by the Sils/Segl Cultural Office (KUBUS) are inspiring and bring you closer to Sils and its artists.
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