ASCONA
SWITZERLAND
The community hosted a great number of artists, writers and philosophers; among them Hermann Hesse, Erich Maria Remarque, Isadora Duncan and Rudolf Steiner.
Ascona, Switzerland’s lowest lying town, is right on the northern shore of Lake Maggiore – a cosmopolitan spot popular with tourists in the Italian-speaking Canton of Ticino. The old town with its labyrinth of cobbled lanes dates back to the sixteenth century, and has been beautifully restored. Indeed, Ascona is listed as a town of national importance on the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites. It is also a member of the International Organisation of Book Towns.
At the start of the twentieth century an artists’ colony was established on the town’s Monte Verità (Hill of Truth), focusing on the benefits of nature, naturism and vegetarianism. The community hosted a great number of artists, writers and philosophers; among them Hermann Hesse, Erich Maria Remarque, Isadora Duncan and Rudolf Steiner.
Ascona’s leading bookshop is the historic Libreria della Rondine (Piazza san Pietro), founded by Amsterdam-born Leo Kok, a musician and pacifist. He survived the Buchenwald concentration camp, but the torture he endured there ended his career as a pianist. When he was freed, Kok opened a secondhand bookshop in Ascona, covering several floors in the beautiful seventeenth-century palazzo Casa Serodine, initially using his own personal library as stock. He ran it from 1946 until 1979, and as well as a bookshop (specialising in German texts), it became a meeting place for German-speaking artists and intellectuals. The Libreria Ascona on Via Borgo also has a good collection of books in German, as well as English, Italian and French.
The Centro del Bel Libro Ascona (Via Collegio) is another important landmark. This leading institute runs courses for both professionals and amateurs on all aspects of book production – from papermaking and conservation to slipcases, book design and leather bookbinding. Founded in 1965 by Josef Stemmle, it is now run by the multilingual Suzanne Schmollgruber.
Ascona’s town library, the Biblioteca Popolare, was founded by American Charlotte Giese in 1926 on the lovely lakeside promenade (Piazza Giuseppe Motta), and has excellent views. Among the town’s other attractions are a major annual jazz festival and a historic mini-golf course.
Ascona lakeside at night.
Eventi Letterari Monte Verità
This relatively new annual literary festival continues the town’s tradition of artistic events and communities. It is held at the Monte Verità Conference and Cultural Centre and other locations around town including the Teatro San Materno, Piazza Elvezia and the Ascona Public Library. While it attracts major authors such as Ian McEwan and Orhan Pamuk to its programmes, the festival also concentrates on giving a platform to younger writers. Each festival has a theme such as ‘Utopia and memory’ and ‘Love in all its forms’.
Readings are performed in the native language of the respective author, but are mostly simultaneously translated into Italian, German and French. A day ticket is 30 Swiss Francs (there are also concessions), with single event and full festival passes also available.
A key part of the festival is its all day open-air book market on the lake promenade of Ascona. As well as new and secondhand books, you can find objects made of wood and paper, handbags made of old books, and local culinary delicacies.
Outside Casa Serodine and La Rondine, looking down towards the lake.
The Monte Verità Conference and Cultural Centre.
The Centro del Bel Libro Ascona.
Libreria Ascona on Via Borgo.
A student hard at work on a bookbinding course at the Centro del Bel Libro Ascona.