Mountain Passes #3

The third part of Stephan Zirwes’ filmic series on mountain passes in the Italian and Swiss alpes portrays the Splügen Pass. The section on the italian side is nearly 200 years old and was built in the 1820ies by Carlo Donegani for the Habsburg monarchy. Shot with a drone and carefully framed, the photographic images meditate on these ancient imposing monuments:

More than a hundred years old – often the only connection between valleys and also cultures – open six months of a year and closed for six months in winter: mountain passes. In earlier times vitally important for commerce and strategic purposes, they become more and more important as tourist attractions today. Built with great human effort under hard conditions – constructions which hardly find attention although they are national monuments.