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All Switzerland Ascona Monte Verità

Monte Verità

The Swiss hilltop housed an early 20th-century vegetarian nudist colony.

Ascona, Switzerland

Added By
christianmoccia
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Monte Verità.   Patrik Tschudin/CC BY 2.0
Monte Verità.   Patrik Tschudin/CC BY 2.0
The modernist hotel at Monte Verità.   LittleJoe/CC BY-SA 3.0
An early 20th-century postcard, featuring two nude men.   Unknown/Public Domain
One of the museum buildings, which houses info about the vegetarian colony.   WPestana/CC BY-SA 3.0
Monte Verità.   Ralf Schulze/CC BY 2.0
  malinhedblom / Atlas Obscura User
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About

In 1900, a man named Henri Oedenkoven bought Monte Verità, which translates to “Hill of Truth." He, along with feminist pianist Ida Hofmann, soon established a vegetarian nudist colony on the Swiss hilltop.

Vegetable-loving, clothes-eschewing individuals swarmed to Monte Verità, creating their own little utopia that attracted a fair share of anarchists and early socialists.

Its individualistic residents were “tolerantly intolerant.” They were against private property, marriage, party politics, and, obviously, conventional dress. The colonists also opened a sunbathing establishment called the Monte Verità Sanatorium.

After the utopia's founders emigrated in the 1920s, Monte Verità was transformed into a Modernist hotel that still stands today. The hilltop continued to attract an assortment of creative people and unconventional thinkers from all walks of life. It’s been a welcome haven for philosophers, free thinkers, and artists.

Now, the site also houses a conference facility and a museum about the hill's history. The museum is spread across three different buildings: the wooden building that once housed the nudist vegetarian colony’s headquarters, the small building once used by the sunbathers, and another building that holds a painting called The Clear World of the Blessed. 

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Utopias Museums Hotels Modernism Anarchy Places To Stay

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Visitors are welcome to wander about the manicured grounds, and can book an organized tour.

Community Contributors

Added By

christianmoccia

Edited By

Kerry Wolfe, malinhedblom

  • Kerry Wolfe
  • malinhedblom

Published

December 20, 2017

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Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Verit%C3%A0
  • http://www.monteverita.org/it/13/home.aspx
  • http://www.monteverita.org/en/58/press-area.aspx
  • http://www.monteverita.org/en/82/timeline.aspx
Monte Verità
Str. Collina 84
Ascona
Switzerland
46.158484, 8.762982
Visit Website
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