03:06

Ruth Deutschmann

Banjamin Epp

Galtür

2008-08-22

Sylvia Manning-Baumgartner

Nicole D´Incecco

1930

From the very beginning we were alpine farmers' children. My father was a mountain guide and succeeded my grandfather as tenant of the Jamtal alpine hut. My grandfather worked carrying sand when the Jamtal hut was built. He was an open-minded young man and was hired by the builder of the German alpine club. He collected sand from the moraine of the glacier in his manure basket and brought it to the building site of the first Jamtal alpine hut. In 1882 he was appointed the first caretaker of the Jamtal hut because he had impressed the Stuttgart managers of the alpine club's section in Swabia. He worked there until 1907. The hut was built as a base for the German alpine club during the development of the eastern Alps. At the time it was like this: The land developers of the eastern Alps came from the surrounding area; from Switzerland and the regions around Lake Constance, from Baden Württemberg and from Allgäu because that was how to access the Silvretta region. There was no road from Landeck, the only way to reach the area was via passes from the Lower Engadine (valley), from the Rhaetian settlement area. That's where we're from originally. The Walser came later. The first to discover this place were the Rhaetians. They were cattle farmers from the Lower Engadine who drove their animals over the passes in the summer to preserve their crops. That's how they discovered this beautiful spot; they called it "Kultura". That name is mentioned in a document from 1040. It means 'pretty plain' or 'pretty plateau'. The German-speaking Walser moved in from the west 300 years later. They saw that there was still room for them and teamed up with the residing Rhaetians. They first came around 1320, and lived together as cattle and crop farmers.