Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast; Getty
“Who doesn’t know the Matterhorn?”
I was enjoying a scrumptious meal at Madre Nostra, an Italian restaurant in a gorgeously restored chalet in Zermatt, as Janine Imesch, my table-mate, pondered why it is that people around the world can instantly recognize the iconic Swiss peak. Until the late 19th century, no one knew the Matterhorn, no one knew Zermatt, said the former marketing director of Tourism Zermatt. At the time, Zermatt was like any other village in the Swiss Alps: a poor agricultural village. “How come everyone can instantly recognize the Matterhorn when they see a photo?” she went on. “The Matterhorn isn’t even the highest mountain in Switzerland. So how did Zermatt become so famous?” She paused for dramatic effect. “It’s because of a tragedy.”
It’s hard to imagine that an attractive, lively town as legendary as Zermatt, surrounded as it is by an arrestingly beautiful alpine panorama, could have initially become world-famous because of a dreadful misfortune. Ambling along the Bahnhofstrasse, the narrow main street, which is lined with stylish hotels, ski shops, luxury watch boutiques, cozy restaurants, and aromatic bakeries and konditorei (sweet shops), it’s easy enough to overlook.