The army barracks, seen here in 2008. These would be replaced by a luxury holiday village in the Urseren valley with the help of military subsidies. (Beat Brechbuehl/Franca Pedrazzetti)
Beat Brechbuehll/Franca Pedrazzetti
Two elderly residents stroll through the building site which will soon be a high-end, luxury, holiday complex. (Keystone/Beat Brechbuehl/Franca Pedrazzetti)
Beat Brechbuehl/Franca Pedrazzetti
As part of the construction work for the Hotel Chedi Andermatt in 2010, two pneumatic cranes lift a two-storey chalet, which weighs around 100 tonnes, and place it on the new foundations. (Keystone/Sigi Tischler)
SIGI TISCHLER
The former Grand Hotel Danioth just before demolition in May 2008. (Keystone/Beat Brechbuehl/Franca Pedrazzetti)
Beat Brechbuehll/Franca Pedrazzetti
The last military shooting exercise in Andermatt in April 2008. (Franca Pedrazzetti)
Franca Pedrazzetti
Ski racing at Gemsstock, in March 2008, a spot close to the then-planned luxury resort. (Keystone/Beat Brechbuehl/Franca Pedrazzetti)
Beat Brechbuehll/Franca Pedrazzetti
The building site for the Chedi Andermatt Resort, which borders the grounds of the Ursern retirement home, seen here in 2010/2011. (Beat Brechtbuehl/Franca Pedrazzetti)
Beat Brechbühl
Construction of the Hotel Chedi Andermatt was well underway in 2011. (Keystone/Beat Brechbuehl/Franca Pedrazzetti)
Beat Brechbuehl/Franca Pedrazzetti
The army helicopter base is demolished in 2009. (Keystone/Beat Brechbuehl/Franca Pedrazzetti)
Beat Brechbuehll/Franca Pedrazzetti
A group of local officials, business leaders and Samih Sawiris (second from left on raised platform) symbolically turn the first sod of earth for the official opening of construction at the resort, on September 26, 2009. (Keystone/Beat Brechbuehl/Franca Pedrazzetti)
Keystone/Sigi Tischler
Once an ordinary mountain village, an Egyptian billionaire’s vision to construct Switzerland’s largest tourist resort changed the landscape of the central Swiss town of Andermatt and the lives of the people there. Two photographers have highlighted the area's humbler roots.
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Born in England, I've lived in Switzerland since 1994. I trained as a graphic designer in Zurich between 1997 – 2002. More recently I have moved on to work as photo editor and joined the team at swissinfo.ch in March 2017.
Helen James (picture editor), Beat Brechbuehl, Franca Pedrazzetti (photos)
The mega-resort was billed to be different from other Alpine holiday destinations: more luxury, up to six top-class hotels, 500 apartments, and even a congress centre with an indoor pool. A ‘grand deluxe suite’ at the Chedi HotelExternal link, which opened in 2013, will set you back by about CHF1,700 ($1,710.00) per night, depending on the season.
To date, around CHF1 billion have been invested so far, and the resort is still not fully finished.
A military history
In 2004 the Swiss military was pared down and the specialist training centres, through which a steady flow of recruits once passed, were reduced in number, for instance in Andermatt. For decades, the Swiss army had been a source of wealth for the village in the Ursern valley, between the Oberalp, Furka and Gotthard passes, and had provided work for 200 employees. The only other activity was farming and some small businesses. Andermatt needed rejuvenating.
Controversial developments
In 2005, Egyptian billionaire Samih Sawiris was invited to invest in the cash-strapped village. A year later the defence ministry sold packages of military land in Andermatt for CHF10 million to Korporation UrsernExternal link, a corporation under public law which is made up of all the citizens of the valley. It extends over the three municipalities of Andermatt, Hospental and Realp. It is the largest landowner in the valley: just under 93% of land belongs to it. The corporation acts as a relief to the tasks carried out by the municipalities and the canton, who in turn bought the land to re-sell to Sawiris at the same price.
The setting up of the project was controversial and met with some local resistance from farmers, until Sawiris persuaded them to part with their land. In hindsight, the project must have seemed too good to be true: a billionaire appears from ‘nowhere’, promising a future without any further financial worries. One particular retired ex-military residentExternal link complained that there wasn’t enough affordable accommodation for local people. There were concerns that the army sold the land for less than it was worth, and if they hadn’t Sawiris would never have been interested.
Andermatt, documented
Photographers Franca Pedrazzetti and Beat Brechbuehl, decided to document the transformation of Andermatt and chronicle the changes in the form of a book, ‘Andermatt im Umbruch, vom Waffenplatz zum Luxusresort’, by Robert Kruker and Verena Meier. swissinfo.ch has chosen a selection of these images.
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