I stumbled across all these 1930s Swiss and Italian travel posters online that are up for sale at an auction house in Dresden, Germany.
I had intended to quickly share some of my favorites, but then I got curious about some of the places pictured and ended up doing some research/getting sidetracked. So I have a little extra backstory for some of them.
Pilatus Bahn, Luzern – Pilatus Railway, Railway Chemin de Fer, Lucerne, Switzerland poster by Otto Ernst, c. 1930.
At first glance, I thought this was the same mountain railway (funicular) I’d posted about previously, Gelmerbahn, but it’s actually Pilatusbahn, which is on a different Swiss peak about 40 minutes away. Different sources claim each one to be the steepest cogwheel railway in Europe, so that may be where my confusion came from.
Anyway, I found a 2009 photo of Mt. Pilatus that was taken from almost the same angle as the poster – you can even see the little red funicular making its way down the hill (on possibly-the-steepest-grade track in Europe).
Genua und die Italienische Riviera – “Genoa and the Italian Riviera,” lithograph, 1931.
Are there palm trees in Genoa? I wouldn’t have guessed that, but I’m not going to verify that right now. This post has sent me down enough rabbit trails already! (Yeah, more are on the way, I just rearranged the post to spread them out a bit.) For now, I’m going to refrain from even doing an image search.
Leuchtender Sommer – Beschwingte Fahrt. Die schöne Schweiz – Zürich poster “Bright summer – Lively ride. The beautiful Switzerland.” by Augusto Giacometti, c. 1930.
This design is such a departure from your typical travel poster. Instead of focusing on a scene from a city or landscape, it’s just a close-up of a slightly abstracted, watercolor-y butterfly.
I also love that you can see slight creases in the paper. Someone must’ve folded it up at one point. I wonder what they did with it after that-? Did they put it in their pocket and take it home? I’m sure they’d be shocked to know it would eventually be unfolded and put up for auction.
Verona – Verona, Italy lithograph, c. 1930.
I found out that the structures depicted here are the Arche Scaligere, tombs of the Scaliger family, erected while they were still in power.
The coral-ish colored wall reminded me a bit of something from Venice. And, it turns out that Verona was, in fact, conquered by the Venetian Republic in 1405, just a few decades after the Arche Scaligere were completed.
Brescia – Brescia, Italy lithograph by Vincenzo Alicandri, c. 1930.
Speaking of Verona, Brescia was actually part of the same kingdom for 50 years or so, until it fell under Venetian control, shortly before Verona itself did.
See what I mean about rabbit trails? I didn’t know any of this before I started wondering about these posters.
Schweizerische Bundesbahnen – Swiss Railways poster by Emil Cardinaux, c. 1930.
I’m starting to think that all the trains in Switzerland are red, which isn’t a bad choice. Bright red looks fantastic against those alpine greens and blues!
Roma – Rome poster by Virgilio Retrosi, c. 1930.
The building with the horses on top is Il Vittoriano, a monument to the first king after Italy’s unification. The monument was completed in 1925, so it would’ve been new when this poster was made.
It seems like you can see Il Vittoriano from all over Rome. Even though it’s far in the background, look how large it still looms in this photo we took from the Palatine Hill overlooking the Roman Forum!
Davos für Sport und Gesundheit – “Davos [Switzerland] for Sport and Health” by Otto Bamberger, c. 1930.
This one might be my favorite. I just love the illustration style, and I can almost feel the cool mountain breeze. It looks like a nice spot for a picnic.
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Which of these posters do you most wish you could just step right into? Leave me a comment, while I go google palm trees in the Italian Rivieria.
Images:
- Posters via Art Auction House Günther in Dresden, Germany.
- Pilatus photo by albinfo, public domain.
- Verona photo via Verona.net
- Rome photos by me.
