Davos – Parsenn

A highly sought-after, original Swiss tourism poster, designed in 1943 by Edi Hauri on behalf of the operators of the Parsennbahn, to attract winter visitors—and especially skiers—to the cable car despite the war.

Thanks to the successful composition and execution of one of the most sought-after original Davos posters: In the foreground, the main subject—wooden skis and ski poles stuck in the snow against a brilliant blue sky—and in the background, the means to that end: the red Parsennbahn, which took passengers from Davos Dorf up to the Weissfluhjoch—1,100 meters higher—in just a few minutes.

One of only five (out of a total of just under 100) posters that Basel-based artist Edi Hauri (1911–1988) designed for the tourism industry—all five of which he created after going into business for himself in 1942. Prior to that, he completed an apprenticeship as a graphic lithographer and attended evening classes at the Basel School of Applied Arts, before beginning his studies at the Berlin Academy of Fine and Applied Arts in 1932—which he soon abandoned, however, following the National Socialists’ election victory, and returned to Basel. This was followed by a position at the Frobenius publishing and printing house, before Hauri rented a space from Donald Brun, who was only slightly older than him, and worked on his own account (including as a photographer), almost exclusively for clients in Basel throughout his life.

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