THE WIDRIG FAMILY OF BAD RAGAZ, SWITZERLAND
Bad Ragaz is situated about 40 miles or so south of Lake Constance, just north of
the cathedral city of Chur in the eastern part of Switzerland. It is clustered between
the mountains on the western side of a wide valley and the river Rhein, close to
the point where the river Tamina, a tributory of the Rhein falls as a mountain torrent
from Bad Pf'äfers, which is situated in a narrow gorge higher up in the mountains.
The surrounding mountains, wooded on their lower slopes, form a picturesque backdrop
to a lovely and perhaps typical Swiss village with a mixture of old and more modern
buildings. Bad Ragaz, as its name implies, is a prosperous spa town and resort and
boasts many hotels and shops, some of them very prestigious, which serve those who
come to benefit from the therapeutic properties of the thermal springs. Ragaz as
it was known until it added the spa title (Bad) to its name in 1936, was predominantly
an agricultural village until the middle of the 19th century.
It was also a very ancient settlement by virtue of the fact that it lay at a point
where two ancient trade routes crossed. To 20th century eyes Bad Ragaz is idyllic
and visiting the village on a summer' s day with a clear view of the mountain peaks,
it is difficult to understand why many inhabitants of this and other similar Swiss
villages decided to journey into the unknown in search of a better life. 200 years
or more ago, however, life in villages like Ragaz was hard. No- one came to admire
the mountains - they were simply a source of danger and difficulty. The absence of
good communications was compounded by a series of misfortunes which befell Ragaz.
There were serious floods caused by the Tamina, there were fires and there outbreaks
of disease which killed the cattle as well as typhoid fever. Small wonder that many
inhabitants of villages like Ragaz, felt that there was no future for them there
and they looked abroad to a better life in the New World. The thermal springs which
rose in the Tamina gorge above the village, had been well known for centuries, but
access to them was restricted by virtue of the fact that they were controlled by
the Abbey of Pfäfers and no acquaduct existed to bring the springs down into the
village. The 19th Century brought significant changes for the better to Ragaz. Firstly
the Abbey at Pfäfers, which had hitherto controlled the thermal springs was dissolved.
Secondly an acquaduct was constructed to bring the spa waters down into the village
so that bathing facilities could be constructed there and finally in 1858 the railway
to Ragaz was constructed. The coming of the railway prompted the building of hotels
and Ragaz was thus at last able to exploit the benefit of the thermal springs at
a time when taking the waters was highly fashionable in Europe generally. Within
a comparatively few years the village became an important spa and resort, \par attracting
a great many people from the gentry as well as the middle classes, many of whom used
Ragaz as a place to stay in order to acclimatise themselves to the mountain air before
moving on to the higher altitudes of Davos and St Moritz. Such was the influx of
visitors that an English Church was built close to the Tamina ( now sadly no longer
there). Ragaz was perhaps at the height of its prosperity at the turn of the last
century when spa towns were at their most fashionable. In the 20th century two world
wars and the social change which they precipitated, caused a temporary decline and
many of the old hotels are now private houses. Ragaz remains, however, an important
and smart resort with extensive spa facilities and continues to be on the modern
equivalent of the ancient trade routes, namely the motorway from Zürich to Chur which
leads to the St Berhardino pass and ultimately into Italy on the other side of the
Alps. Further information can be obtained from www.badragaz.ch