A photo of Wildhaus Pass in Switzerland. Credit: Fred.
The Wildhaus Pass is a mountain valley in Eastern Switzerland, travelling through the Alps from West to East, where it opens onto a wide valley that forms the border between Switzerland, Austria and Lichtenstein.
The Pass has a few towns, including its namesake Wildhaus (The Wild House), this website's namesake Alt Sankt Johann (Old Saint Johan) and the misleadingly named Unterwasser (Underwater).
Aside from some hobby farmers, Wildhaus' three towns are supported by a tourism industry that caters to skiiers and other wintersport afficianados visiting the mountains described in the next section.
Both sides of the Wildhaus Pass are home to national significant mountains, giving it some absolutely breathtaking views. To the north is the south side of Säntis, the tallest mountain in northeastern Switzerland. While it's only 2,500m tall, Säntis is one of Europe's more prominent mountains, as the Alpstein range it's apart of directly abutts the much-lower Lake Konstanz, on the border of Germany and Switerzland. Because of this prominence, houses named Säntisblick (Säntis-view) can be found in the Black Forest, more than 100km away, while on a clear day, six different countries can be seen from the Säntis' summit: Switzerland, Geramny, Austria, Lichtenstein, France and Italy.From Wildhaus, you can access the slightly lower southern slope of Säntis via a reasonably rigorous hike, but you can't reach the weather station and cable car present on the main summit.Across from Säntis are the north slopes of the Churfirsten, a series of seven peaks in a row popular for wintersports. Arguably, there are only six meaningful peaks in the series, but locals associate the Churfirsten (which can be translated as either the Crests or Princes of Chur) with the roughly homophonic Kürfursten, the seven Elector Princes/Bishops of the old Holy Roman Empire, so they include a minor rise as the seventh peak, which is a matter of minor dispute for some. Summer visitors who make it to the top of one of the crests from Wildhaus will be treated a glorious view of the Walensee, a crystal blue Alpine lake in the parallel valley to the south of the Wildhaus Pass.
The major local event is the birth of the reformist preacher Huldrych Zwingli - you can still visit the wooden house where he grew up today. Zwingli was a contemporary of Martin Luther and similarly advocated for a more personal relationship with God based on the written word of the gospels, rather than Catholic tradition. His beliefs spread like wildfire throughout Switzerland, leading a position of temporary political power in Zurich. In the interest of full disclosure, none of the 'interesting' parts of his life occured in Wildhaus.
In 2015, I was lucky enough to spend a month living in a chalet rented on AirBnB (back when it was standard for renters to offer 30-50% discounts on bookings of a month or more). Although I had to work Monday-Friday and it was a 30 minute walk uphill to get to the town's little supermarket, I fell in love with the majesty of the Alps. On Saturdays and Sundays I'd wake up, fill a backpack with a salami, some soft cheese and flatbread, before exiting the house and surveying the two rows of mountains the valley cut through. I'd select a peak on vibes alone and head off in that direction, not stopping until I reached the top.
It's simply idllyic.