For the very first time in history, an aeroplane is to cross the Alps. In the summer of 1910, the Milan Air Show announced a competition for this daring undertaking with a proud prize money. The destination was the square in front of Milan Cathedral, the starting point was Brig in the Upper Valais. The tranquillity of the mountain valley is a thing of the past: suddenly the wide world bursts into the confines of the village. Tourists from all over Europe want to witness the spectacle.

Edi, who comes from the poorest of backgrounds, is fascinated by the flying machines. In Ried-Brig, which is ideally situated on the glacier moraine, he experiences the take-off attempts at first hand. The novel tells from his perspective how his fate intertwines with that of the tragic hero of the flying competition, Geo Chavez from Paris. His will is aroused to free himself from the arbitrary machinations in the village.

Date: Saturday 15 October 2022
Time: 18.00 (admission from 17.00)
Venue: Ritz Niederwald Station
Ticket prices: Association members CHF 10.00 / third parties CHF 15.00 per person. Children up to 12 years free of charge. Free choice of seats
Reservations: verein@stationritz.ch or +41 27 974 68 68

The national scout camp taking place in Goms in the summer of 2022 offers a unique opportunity to present a previously unpublished collection of historical photographs of the international girls' scout camp in Goms in the summer of 1957. The 1957 Goms Camp was an international jubilee camp that took place in ten villages of the Goms with more than 6000 participating Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. The Girl Scouts were able to attend workshops and courses of various kinds. Henri Mutter, a teacher from Niederwald, and Hans Eggermann, an apprentice photographer from Lucerne, led a photography course and at the same time captured the scout camp in numerous high-quality black-and-white photographs. Their photographs document not only a major event of the scout movement, but also the landscape, the villages and the people of the 1950s in Goms. They take the photography of a Werner Bischof as their model and reflect the cosmopolitan spirit of optimism of the post-war period.
The exhibition is scheduled to be on view from 21 May 2022 until spring 2023. It will be curated by Board member and art historian Benno Mutter and by Andreas Hertach, freelance exhibition curator from Lucerne.
On display will be around thirty photographs in classic black-and-white enlargements, divided into the thematic groups of railway station scenes, encounters in the village, the flag procession on the village square, camp life, studios and photo course (cf. photo selection and sketch in the appendix). In addition, a short film shot in 1957 offers an insight into camp life, and original apparatus and instruments from the 1950s illustrate photography at the time and the work in the analogue black-and-white laboratory.

The Station Ritz at the Niederwald train station is an ideal starting point for tours of all kinds and offers wardrobes, showers and changing rooms. The Station Ritz is located directly at the bike route no. 1 and can offer you a variety of hikes with the tour in the village, the Cäsar Ritz Weg and the access possibility to the Gommer Höhenweg. In winter you can explore the cross-country skiing paradise Goms from the Station Ritz. Cross-country skiing tickets can be bought in the bistro.