Chalet-style stations shape Switzerland’s image

This railway station in Malans, in the canton of Graubünden, built in the chalet style, has since been replaced by a more modern station. Photo from 1961. SBB Historic

From Valais to Graubünden, via the Bernese Oberland and Gruyère, chalet-style railway stations help to shape the country’s picture-postcard image. First built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during the golden age of the railways, they have since followed varied paths. An exhibition is currently dedicated to them in Valais.

The poster for the exhibition on the chalet-style railway stations in Finhaut, in the canton of Valais. BIS

Let’s start with a basic question. Is the chalet to Switzerland what chocolate and watches are? “Yes,” replies Christophe Goumand. The Valais-based archaeologist and historian knows what he’s talking about, given that his father’s family were born and raised in a chalet. And not just any chalet. Not an Alpine chalet or a luxury holiday home, but a railway stop. In other words, a “gare-chalet”, a railway stop where passengers could board and alight.

“My grandfather was a railway maintenance worker responsible for maintaining the tracks at Finhaut station (canton Valais). The station was not a stone building but a wooden chalet, where his family lived. That was in the 1930s. There was another chalet station in the municipality of Finhaut: Châtelard-Village, run by a private company. When the operator wanted to demolish it, my grandfather – who was retiring at the time but still felt attached to the railway world – told him: ‘Don’t demolish it; I’ll take it.’ With the help of a contractor, he dismantled the wooden structure of the Châtelard station and reassembled it not far away, in Giétroz. Once moved there, this chalet became our holiday home. As a child, I used to go there often.”

Attracting English tourists

This personal journey explains Goumand’s fascination with chalet-style railway stations, to which he has dedicated an exhibition that runs until September 13 at the Galerie Victoria in Finhaut. Original plans, scale models, and old and recent photographs are on display for visitors to admire. As well as the history of the Swiss chalet, documented in the exhibition, visitors can explore the architecture of the wooden stations dotted along the Martigny–Châtelard line in the Trient Valley (Valais). Operated by a private railway company, Transports Martigny et Régions (TMR), it is now a “protected” line.

“This means it cannot be demolished,” explains the archaeologist.

The chalet-style station at Davos-Glaris, in the canton of Graubünden, still stands today. Photo from 1963. SBB Historic

Chalet-style stations also dot the landscapes of Gruyère, the Bernese Oberland, Graubünden and the Lake Geneva Riviera. “Some of them belong to the Swiss Federal Railways, such as the Vaud stations at Gland, Coppet and Roche. The latter was recently restored by the Federal Railways,” says Goumand.

Whether privately or publicly owned, most of them are still in service. They have existed since the late 19th and early 20th centuries and form part of Switzerland’s railway heritage. Their construction was once driven by a desire to attract English tourists, who were, at the time, very keen on Alpine holidays in the heart of a romantic Switzerland.

Rousseau and the romanticism of the chalet

“To my knowledge, there is no equivalent to these chalet-style stations anywhere else in Europe. In France, for example, there are some, but they are wooden houses; they do not have the same heritage value as ours,” says Goumand.

The chalet-style station in Randa, in the canton of Valais, is still standing. Photo from 1977. SBB Historic

He goes on to highlight the role played by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the idealisation of the beauty of the Swiss Alps. It was indeed the Genevan writer and philosopher who, in his novel La Nouvelle Héloïse (published in 1761), gave the chalet a prominent place as a setting for idyllic contemplation. Swiss engineers in the late 19th century were quick to recognise the chalet concept as an opportunity to export the image of an idyllic Switzerland and to reap significant profits from it.

Showcasing the expertise of Swiss carpenters

With the advent of the railways in the 19th century, railway stations flourished alongside the construction of chalets, which would become stopping points for trains. At the time, Swiss builders succeeded in exporting prefabricated chalets to France, taking advantage of the 1889 Paris World’s Fair to showcase their expertise. “Their approach proved successful. It’s worth noting that the Swiss Confederation, then in its infancy, promoted the talent of its carpenters at major exhibitions,” notes Goumand.

As a result, wealthy European families commissioned chalets to be installed on their vast estates. Prefabricated buildings, which also emerged in the 19th century, were highly sought after. Among the buyers was Charles Dickens, who owned a chalet on the outskirts of London. “It still stands today, amidst modern buildings; it was where the British author used to write,” says Goumand.

The fate of chalet-style stations

Back in Switzerland, Goumand recounts an unusual anecdote about the chalet station known as the “three towns” station. It belongs to the public transport company Travys and “takes its name from its location, which offers views of Yverdon-les-Bains (Vaud), Estavayer-le-Lac (Fribourg) and Orbe (Vaud)”. Originally built to house railway maintenance workers, it has been let since 1990. Nowadays, the train that passes through stops only for the station’s sole tenant.

Every chalet station has its own fate. Klosters-Dorf, in Graubünden, which opened in 1889, has become a café and bakery. Trains still stop there, but this station no longer provides any services. Stationmasters have long since disappeared. Today, everything is automated. Modern stations? “Ah!” says Goumand, “they’re all the same all over the world – just copy and paste, nothing but concrete!” Nostalgic, then? “Yes and no – I remain realistic; you have to move with the times.”

Edited by Samuel Jaberg. Adapted from French by Patrick Julian Huwyler/ds