Richard Hacken was born in Sacramento, California. He received a Ph.D. from U.C. Davis and worked in the BYU Library for over 40 years. He is a dual Swiss-American citizen with roots in Rüeggisberg, Bern. This year he published the book Helvetic Heights: A Human History of the Swiss Alps, and kindly agreed to give us an interview.
Dr. Hacken, where does your fascination with the Swiss Alps stem from?
Growing up in the city once dubbed “New Helvetia” by its Swiss founder, Johann Augustus Sutter, my first memories were saturated with California Gold Rush Swissness.
My father was an enthusiastic second-generation Swiss-American, and many of his Swiss words and phrases became a part of my own vocabulary.
The Alps were at first just a concept to me, since I explored the Sierra Nevada Mountains well before my first experiences in the high Helvetic realms.
Then I became acquainted with the Swiss Alps up close, in person. It altered my life.
I vowed to study the Alpine lakes, valleys, mountains and peoples, to trace their multifaceted histories, and to relate their tales of incredible regional richness.
In your book, you describe how the reputation of the Alps underwent a profound transformation. Could you elaborate on this shift and what drove it?
As I read the evidence – archaeological, scientific, and literary – the earliest reactions to the Alps alternated between terror and worship. Some mountains (Pilatus, for instance) took on the aura of a curse.
Avalanches and landslides came unexpectedly. Yet by the time of 16th-century Humanism and the Reformation, growing knowledge and careful venturing began to unlock realities and do away with many dragon-infested nightmares.
In the Enlightenment of the 18th century, the Bernese poet Albrecht von Haller and the Genevan genius Jean-Jacques Rousseau excited Europe with positive and even rapturous literary images of a Swiss Utopia.
In quick succession, then, came the reach of Romanticism around the world, the constitutional Confederation, tourism to the masses, railroads, tunnels, word-of-mouth promotion, and skilled hospitality services.
Today, alpine villages are increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters like landslides and flooding as we’ve tragically seen in the village of Blatten this spring. Do you believe this environmental threat could trigger a new transformation in how we perceive the Alps?
A diary entry by a visiting Queen Victoria quoted in this book offers after-the-fact affirmation of the destruction and loss of hundreds of lives in Goldau (Schwyz) caused by a 19th-century landslide.
Landslides and avalanches have been Alpine features since gravity met mountains and villagers.
Modern science–such as glaciology, geophysics, meteorology, climate science, hydrology, statistics, and data analysis–have been able to predict disasters, trigger evacuations, and save lives.
That was the recent case in Blatten. It has been suggested that certain villages might have to remain “ghost towns” permanently. But some uprooted villagers plan to return and carry on.
I doubt that individual disaster zones and flooding will dampen (pun intended) enthusiasm for the Swiss Alps. But precaution is the ticket.
Alpine imagery often features in Swiss political campaigns. What values or messages do you think these motifs are meant to convey?
In Switzerland, cultural and even political horizons can be dominated by the natural environment. (See pp. 372-375 in Helvetic Heights).
The trio of Swiss Alps, cows, and dogs were key ingredients in emotional appeals from Bernese cantonal flyers and brochures during the 2023 national elections.
Gentle interactions between species (preferably at altitude) underscored the humanity of candidates, especially of the middle-class and populist parties.
Edelweiss shirts and Alpine panoramas pointed to patriotism. One FDP brochure shows a climber on a mountain peak, raising both arms in victory.
While not all cantons are mountainous, the Alps do convey national pride. But can a voter separate emotional pitches from rationally desirable party policies or a candidate’s character?
Finally, what is your personal favorite alpine activity – and why?
For me, a lover of the Swiss Alps now entering my ninth decade of life, physically demanding hikes and climbs are in the rearview mirror, so to speak.
Writing this book was as exciting for my inner life as earlier treks had been.
With a yearning for Alpine mindfulness, but not for the early grave of a rocking chair, I travel by train whenever I can… over, under, around, and through the mountains.
I stop where the sights are wide and beautiful. I seek the “sublime” described by the Romantic poets. I wish the same for all of you once you reach old age.
I wish the joy and fulfillment of an Alpine life for you, whether being lived or being remembered.
