The Lure of St. Moritz - From Sleepy Mountain Village to Luxury Resort | DW Documentary

May 9, 2026 | St. Moritz is the birthplace of alpine winter tourism, as well of many winter sports. The village, with its magnificent location in the Swiss Engadin mountains, was already attracting celebrities in the last century.

St. Moritz is one of the most exclusive winter sports resorts in the world, with a burnished history. Located in the picturesque Swiss Engadin mountains, the village attracted many celebrities in the last century: including Charlie Chaplin, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Gunter Sachs, Andy Warhol and Herbert von Karajan. Coco Chanel sought refuge here, during the war. Alfred Hitchcock was inspired to write his first classic in one of St. Moritz’s grand hotels, and returned many times over the decades. The Shah of Persia temporarily ruled his empire from a chalet on the Suvretta slope.

Just 150 years ago, St. Moritz was still a simple mountain village. Then, adventurous Englishmen arrived, invented new winter sports and laid the foundation for the town's fame.

Five-star hotels sprang up in the village of 5,000 inhabitants, which suddenly became a winter hotspot for the rich and famous.

Numerous winter sports originated here, some of which are unique to this location: in Cresta, participants race headfirst down into the valley on low sleds - on the longest natural ice track in the world. The Cresta Club, founded over 100 years ago by Englishmen, is still one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.

In skijoring, skiers are pulled across the frozen Lake St. Moritz by horses. Winter sports, tradition and sophisticated lifestyle, luxury and cosmopolitanism characterize the history of St. Moritz.

The Making of St Moritz: How a Bet with Pioneer Victorian Tourists Launched Winter Haven for the Rich

Badrutt's Palace Hotel in St Moritz is where winter
tourism began in the Swiss resort.

THE OBSERVER: The Swiss playground of the rich and famous is marking 150 years since a celebrated hotelier opened his doors to British visitors in winter

In September 1864 Johannes Badrutt, owner of the Faller pension in St Moritz, was bidding auf wiedersehen to his last British summer visitors, and pondering how to fill his rooms during the winter.

“Come back and spend Christmas in St Moritz. It’s sunnier and less rainy than London,” he suggested. “If you don’t like it, I’ll pay your travel costs. If you do, you can stay as long as you like.” It was an offer, so local legend goes, that the four English guests could not refuse. They returned to St Moritz in December and stayed until Easter.

And so, 150 years ago, the Swiss hotelier and the English tourists created what would become Europe’s first winter holiday resort and an Alpine playground for the international wealthy and famous.

The 2014-5 season, which opens next weekend, will be celebrated with a comprehensive programme of events marking the town’s glorious past and intended as a thank-you to those first visitors.

In 1864 local people used skis or sledge to get from A to B, but there were no established winter sports. After Badrutt’s gambit, however, going to St Moritz caught on among the British upper classes, who flocked to the village of 200 residents, attracting notables including Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II (who was overthrown before he saw the magnificent palace he commissioned overlooking Lake St Moritz), Friedrich Nietzsche, conductor Herbert von Karajan and the Shah of Iran. » | Kim Willsher | Sunday, November 16, 2014