16.03 –12.10.2025

Curated by

Gianmarco Talamona e
Ludovica Introini

Eugenio Schmidhauser and the Malcantone. A connection that took root in the early years of the 20th century, when the photographer of Thurgau origin began capturing the villages, nature and people of the Lugano region under the guidance of Rudolf Fastenrath, a wealthy German who took him under his wing and left a great and lasting influence on him.

His shots of Ticino were part of the tourism projects conducted by Fastenrath, who settled in Magliaso and opened a tourist bureau there. From his photographic plates, a widely circulated series of postcards was produced, promoting these places beyond the Alps. In 1906, his photographs were also used to illustrate Fröhliches Volk im Tessin (Joyful People in Ticino), a collection of twelve poems that Fastenrath dedicated to typical local characters. At times resembling caricatures, Schmidhauser’s pictures have come to be regarded as one of the pillars upon which the region’s tourist imagery has been built, consisting of sunshine, simplicity and good mood.

However, Schmidhauser’s work is not just associated with the tourist industry in Malcantone; it goes beyond that, in terms of both scope and content. Indeed, the extensive recent restoration, digitization and cataloguing of his archive have revealed the breadth and unique features of his production.

In 1901, Schmidhauser enrolled at the prestigious Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt für Photographie (Teaching and Research Institute for Photography) in Munich, where he had the opportunity to learn the very latest techniques in taking, developing and printing photographs. He graduated in 1903, with outstanding results. Considered a talented photographer with excellent prospects, this entered his most productive period of his career during these years. While he prepared to move south of the Alps with Fastenrath and started working in Malcantone, he also participated in major national and international photographic exhibitions. His prints received widespread recognition they were shown (including the gold medal at the 1906 Esposizione internazionale [International Exhibition] in Milan and the Internationalen Photographischen Ausstellung [International Photographic Exhibition] in Dresden in 1909) and earned much praise. One of his dossiers with pictures of the postal service in rural Ticino was displayed at the Schweizerischen Landesaustellung (Swiss National Exhibition) in Bern in 1914.

Schmidhauser gradually became less active as a photographer after 1910, as the running of the Pensione della Posta hotel in Astano (he had married the owner’s daughter in 1905) and his progressive involvement in the social and political life of the town (of which he was mayor from 1932 to 1950) had dampened his ambitions in the field. His lens subsequently settled on his adopted village, whose narrow streets, characters and events he continued to immortalize.

Although relatively short-lived, Schmidhauser’s production was nonetheless extraordinarily intense and varied, combining artistic expression and the promotion of tourism in a highly innovative manner, aided by a technique that possibly no one else in Ticino at the time possessed.

For decades, Eugenio Schmidhauser was considered one of the fathers of the photographic tourism imagery of Ticino. While his photographs were celebrated for their quality, both in composition and printed techniques, they also faced some criticism. These critiques stemmed from the unavoidable clichés about Ticino and its people, often depicted throughout wine flasks and mandolins here and there.

In fact, this imagery based on the picturesque aspects of the local area originated far from Ticino, in Appenzell, and is bound up with the figure of Rudolf Fastenrath. In eastern Switzerland, in the late 19th and early 20th century, Fastenrath flanked his work in the spheres of medicine (he directed the Gontenbad clinic) and culture (he was responsible for the building of the Tonhalle in Herisau, among other things) with several tourism ventures, including projects for the construction of mountain railways on Mounts Gäbris and Säntis. It was in connection with these that his personal photographer Schmidhauser took around 130 shots of the region. Highlighting certain features of Appenzell society, the photographs depicted an idyllic, timeless land, inhabited by men and women attached to their homes and rituals, and to an ancient, timeless tranquillity: basically, the tourist imagery of Appenzell. In 1906, seventeen of these photographs were used to illustrate Grüetz Di Gott, mi Appezell! (Greetings, Appenzell!), a collection of lieder by Fastenrath released by his publishing house Ceresio, in Magliaso.

Fastenrath and Schmidhauser adopted a similar strategy to promote tourism in Malcantone. In the early years of the century, the wealthy Fastenrath settled in Magliaso with the intention of investing in the promotion of the tourism industry, among other things. He opened a tourist office there for the purpose, involving his photographer as he had in eastern Switzerland. The result was “postcard Ticino”, in the literal sense, as Schmidhauser printed a series of 124 postcards that take us through the narrow streets of rural villages, to the foot of a waterfall, or the shore of the lake, among simple, sunny, cheerful men and women.

The photographer possessed a remarkable talent for portraying scenes that combine authenticity and artifice, sometimes with strong hints of caricature. This is particularly evident in the shots dedicated to the traditional trades of Ticino – the knife grinder, the locksmith, the shoemaker, etc. – a sort of catalogue of those petits-métiers (minor trades) that inspired photographers (from the Ticinese Carlo Ponti in 19th century Venice to Irving Penn) and others before and after Schmidhauser. In 1906, twelve of these portraits were used to illustrate Fröhliches Volk im Tessin, a book of poems that Fastenrath dedicated to typical Ticino characters. Its conjunction with Grüetz Di Gott, mi Appezell! is no coincidence: the bucolic, hard-working, patriotic Appenzell mirrored an equally bucolic, yet carefree and light-hearted Ticino.

It is said that Schmidhauser arrived at Lugano station in around 1900 and asked a coachman to take him to Osteno, a place on Lake Lugano known for its gorge. Instead, he took him to Astano instead. There, the young photographer fell in love with the place and his future wife, Ginevra Zanetti. Schmidhauser’s first documented contacts with Astano date back to 1898, when he took some photographs of the village and a portrait of the Zanetti family, owners of the Pensione della Posta. At that time, he was active mainly in Herisau, where his mentor and employer Fastenrath lived. When Fastenrath moved to Magliaso, where he built a sumptuous villa on the lake and opened a tourist office, Schmidhauser followed him.

In the early years of the 20th century, the photographer travelled extensively throughout the Malcantone and beyond to portray its most picturesque places, nature, people, customs and traditions. He compiled a kind of photographic inventory that served as the basis for Fastenrath’s promotion of tourism. His shots were used to make postcards and illustrate several magazines in German-speaking Switzerland, forming the basis for the close association between Schmidhauser and Malcantone. However, following that venture, he no longer paid particular attention to the villages in the area.

Astano was the sole exception, with which Schmidhauser had a much more complex, intense and lasting relationship. He married Ginevra Zanetti in 1905 and became involved in the running of the Pensione della Posta following the death of her father. As the years went by, he became increasingly invested in the sector. He put down roots and played an active role in the life of the village, of which he was mayor from 1932 to 1950.

This involvement is also evident in his photographs. Schmidhauser’s shots of Astano number several hundred and depict the many facets of village life: the narrow streets, the people, the carnival, the brass band, the pupils of the nursery and primary schools, the little lake, the plantations on Mount Rogorio, the arrival of the stagecoach. And, of course, everything revolved around the Pensione della Posta, which also served as Schmidhauser’s studio: as he did not have a real one, he often used the hotel’s courtyard to take his portraits.

In this respect, more than being the photographer of the Malcantone, Eugenio Schmidhauser was truly the photographer of Astano.

The full extent of the breadth and quality of Schmidhauser’s artistic production was only recently revealed during the restoration, digitization and cataloguing of the photographer’s archive.

This chapter of Schmidhauser’s photographic activity is, at least initially, closely bound up with his studies at the Lehr- und Versuchanstalt für Photographie in Munich (1901-1903), where he received a particularly high standard of training. He graduated with such outstanding results that the institute’s director, G. H. Emmerich, appointed him assistant for the 1903-1904 academic year, allowing him the opportunity to further perfect his skills. At that time, Munich was also enjoying a period of great artistic and cultural dynamism from which he undoubtedly benefited.

After completing his studies, he joined the Süddeutschen Photographen-Verein (South German Photographers’ Association). It was the association’s exhibition in Mainz in 1903, at which he won a bronze medal, that marked the start of Schmidhauser’s artistic career. The same year, his prints were also presented at the Schweizerischen und Internationalen Photographischen Ausstellung (Swiss and International Photographic Exhibition) in Bern and, most importantly, at the exhibition held as part of the 11th Congress of the International Union of Photography in Lausanne. On that occasion, several of his photographs were published in the “Revue photographique Suisse” (Swiss Photographic Review), with an authoritative commentary by Rodolphe Archibald Reiss.

Schmidhauser’s artistic production consisted partly of portraits – studies with models made in Bavaria and some scenes staged in Astano (e.g. The Ticino Spinners) – and partly of views, including the little lake in Astano in winter. It also included a series of photographs taken at Lake Garda around 1903, during a stay with a fellow photographer. In 1906, a selection of these prints was presented at the Esposizione internazionale (International exhibition) in Milan. Schmidhauser was awarded a gold medal and his success also resounded loudly in Ticino, where the press celebrated the prestigious award received by the “adopted son of Dr R. Fastenrath”.

The following year, he participated in the Internationalen Ausstellung Künstlerischer Werke der Photographie (International Exhibition of Artistic Photographic Works) in Zurich, then in 1909, in Dresden, he presented his large prints of Lake Garda and a series of portraits, winning a gold medal for Among Olives and Cypresses.

Two years later, he exhibited several works, including Cypresses on Lake Garda, at the International Art Photography Competition in Rome, for which he was awarded a bronze medal.

Finally, in 1914, Schmidhauser participated in the Schweizerischen Landesausstellung (Swiss National Exhibition) in Bern in a dual role. On the one hand, he received a bronze medal for works – unfortunately it is not known which ones – submitted in the professional photography section. On the other, he was called upon by the management of the 11th Postal District to take a series of photographs of post offices in remote areas of Ticino. The shots depict the offices of Astano, Quinto, Madrano, Sonogno, Monteggio, Varenzo and Bosco Gurin, as well as portraits of the postman on duty between Cerentino and Bosco Gurin with his donkey. These photographs were subsequently widely circulated, becoming emblematic of Canton Ticino’s extensive postal service.

The year 1914 marked the end of Schmidhauser’s exhibition season. The Great War temporarily put an end to international exhibitions, and by the time it was over, the 40-year-old was an established hotelier. Although brief, it was an exceptionally intense season with many highlights that received unanimous acclaim at major European events.

1876

Eugenio Schmidhauser was born on 21 June in Seon (Canton of Argau), the third son of polisher Johannes and Martha Katarina Lampert, originally from the Thurgovian village of Ennetach.

1892–1895

Attended the professional training school with a commercial focus in Herisau. His teacher is Rudolf Fastenrath, an eccentric German who arrived in Appenzell in the 1870s. Possessing significant financial means, Fastenrath took Eugenio and his brother Oskar under his wing, while the third brother, Alfred, chose to decline any assistance.

1898

Took his first photographs in Herisau, at Fastenrath’s Paradies housing development. He effectively started working as his personal photographer, maintaining the position until 1920.

He travelled to Ticino and Astano for the first time, where, among other things, he photographed the family of Giuseppe Zanetti, owner of the Restaurant della Posta and father of Ginevra, his future wife.

1899

He participated in a trip to Algeria and Tunisia organized by the Otto Erb company, taking around 50 photographs for the tourist agency’s promotional materials.

1901

From mid-April to mid-September he was employed by the Schobinger and Sandherr photography studio in St. Gallen.

In October he started attending courses at the prestigious Lehr- und Versuchanstalt für Photographie (Institute for Teaching and Research in Photography) in Munich.

1902

In parallel to his studies and frequent stays in Appenzell, he began working regularly in Ticino.

1903

On 15 July he graduated from the Lehr- und Versuchanstalt für Photographie with outstanding results. The director of the institute, G. H. Emmerich, appointed him assistant from 1 October 1903 to 15 July 1904.

He printed Tessiner Typen und Landschaften (Ticinese Characters and Landscapes), a collection of 124 postcards of portraits, views and scenes highlighting the picturesque nature of Ticino and clearly aimed at promoting tourism.

He took part in the Internationalen Aus­stellung für Photographie und Grafische Künste (International Exhibition for Photography and Graphic Arts) in Mainz, winning a bronze medal.

He participated in the Schweizerischen und Internationalen Photographischen Ausstellung (Swiss and International Photographic Exhibition) in Bern, receiving a certificate of appreciation.

He took part in the 1903 Exposition de Photographie (Photography Exhibition) in Lausanne and 32 of his photographs were featured in the 1903 and 1904 issues of the “Revue photographique Suisse” (Swiss Photographic Review).

He stayed with the photographer S. D. Wassermann in Gardone Riviera and took a series of photographs around Lake Garda.

1905

On 9 September, he married Ginevra Zanetti. Initially, the couple lived in Villa Paradiso, the lakeside house built by Fastenrath in Magliaso.

Giuseppe Zanetti passed away. The management of the hotel passed to Eugenio, his wife Ginevera and his sister-in-law Palmira.

1906

He took part in the Esposizione internazionale (International Exhibition) in Milan, winning a gold medal and the acclaim of the Ticino press.

Fastenrath’s publishing house Ceresio released Fröhliches Volk im Tessin (Joyful People in Ticino), a collection of his poems accompanied by Schmidhauser’s photographs: twelve caricature portraits of typical Ticino characters.

The Pensione della Posta di Astano underwent an initial expansion.

1907

Participated in the Internationalen Ausstellung Künstlerischer Werke der Photographie (International Exhibition of Artistic Photographic Works) in Zurich, receiving a diploma.

1908

Pro Astano was founded upon Schmi­dhauser’s urging.

His first child, Matilde, was born.

His father Johannes died.

1909

His second child, Palma, was born, who would die just four years later in 1913.

Schmidhauser took part in the Internationalen Photographischen Ausstellung (International Photographic Exhibition) in Dresden, where he presented a series of photographs taken on Lake Garda in 1903 and several portraits. He was awarded the gold medal.

1911

His third child, Rodolfo, was born.

He participated in the international photography competition held as part of the Italian photographic Congress in Rome, winning a bronze medal.

The Guida del Malcantone e della Bassa Valle del Vedeggio (Guide to Malcantone and the Lower Vedeggio Valley) by Angelo Tamburini and Antonio Galli was published, for which Schmidhauser supplied most of the illustrations.

1914

He took part in the Schweizerischen Landesausstellung (Swiss National Exhibition) in Bern, winning a gold medal in the professional photography section. At the same time, a series of his photographs of post offices in the Ticino valleys was displayed in the PTT pavilion.

c. 1915

The focus of Schmidhauser’s work shifted to the running of the Pensione delle Posta. While not ceasing, his photographic production began to decline noticeably.

1925

Fastenrath died.

1932

He was elected mayor of Astano. He would remain in office until 1950.

1938

He took photographs documenting the Monte Rogorio forest fire in Astano.

c. 1945

He took a series of photographs of the Church of SS. Pietro e Paolo in Astano. Some of them were published in 1946 by Don Luigi Simona in La Chiesa di Astano e i suoi restauri (The Church of Astano and its Restorations).

1952

Eugenio Schmidhauser died on 11 April in Astano.