Eingeborene im Paradies

Since the 18th century, literature has played a significant role in the transformation of the Alps from a "locus horribilis" to a "locus amoenus" in the history of perception. Following Albrecht von Haller's poem "Die Alpen," which served as a prototype of literary longing for the Alps, the alpine landscape became a subject with various functional roles and a projection of contemporary desires, feelings, or insights, as seen in the works of Ferdinand Raimund, Adalbert Stifter, Johanna Spyri, Arthur Schnitzler, and Ödon von Horvath. In the 20th century, however, the Alps increasingly became a place of encounter within the tension between a landscape of longing and modern mass tourism. Literary scenarios of threat by Reimmichel or Ludwig Thoma, the satirical exaggeration of the exoticism of proximity in the encounters between locals and strangers in the magazine "Simplicissimus," as well as social criticism, reflect this shift.