Edward Feuz’s Chalet

Edward Feuz Chalet

The Swiss Edelweiss Village is comprised of six chalets built between 1910-1912 by the CPR as permeant homes for six CPR-employed Swiss mountain guides. The residents included the brothers Edward Jr., Ernst and Walter Feuz, Christian Haesler Jr., Rudolf Aemmer and Christian Bohren with their families. This chalet was rented to Christian Haesler and his family, but you can learn more about the history of the Swiss mountain guides the other chalets by exploring all of the Swiss Edelweiss Village pages.

Early Recreation in the Mountains

Mountaineering was a popular sport in Switzerland into the late 1800s. Climbing as a summer activity became hugely popular in the 1860s. English and Swiss alpinists were conquering the major peaks of the Swiss and French Alps. So as  Europeans gained access to Western Canada, there was much interest in  mountaineering and recreation of the Rocky and Selkrik mountains [1].

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) fostered these growing interests by providing easy access via passenger rail and constructing luxurious accommodations available by 1880. English and American tourists were attracted to the possibilities of exploration and unconquered ascents.  In 1899 the CPR began hiring Swiss mountaineers as tourist guides, as well as eventually used Switzerland as promotional materials for travelling to the Canadian mountains [1].

Natural Parks Creation

While most mountain towns were originally settled for mining, Banff was established with tourism at the forefront of mind [2]. The CPR’s ambitious project for a coast-to-coast railway in the Dominion of Canada began in 1870 [2]. The route through the Canadian Rockies was the follow the Bow Valley and during construction on this portion of the track in 1883 a series of natural hot springs was discovered by workers on what is now known as Sulphur Mountain [2].

The Cave and Basin hot springs were identified as a good tourist location. As different parties fought to develop it the Canadian government was prompted to designate the area as protected the area as the Rocky Mountains Park of Canada in 1885 [1,2]. This park would eventually become the Banff National Park and it was Canada’s first national park and the third nationally designated park in the world. In 1886 Yoho National Park became the second designated National Park In Canada and construction on the luxurious accommodations at the Banff Fairmont began as well. When it finally opened in 1888 this provided even more incentive for visitors to come mountaineering [1,3].

As the CPR’s general manager William C. Van Horne announced: “Since we can’t export the scenery, we shall import the tourists” [1].

As tourism grew, the CPR saw the growing need for guides to lead the tourists safely on their mountain quests and in 1899 brought several Swiss guides into their employment.  Eventually, Edward Feuz Jr. would become one of those guides.

Edward Feuz Chalet, written by Dr. Ilona Spaar

The house was built in 1911, and named after its first resident, Swiss mountain guide Ed(ward) Feuz Jr. Following his father, mountain guide Edward Feuz Sr., from Interlaken, Switzerland, to Canada, Ed Feuz recorded more first ascents in the Canadian Rocky and Selkirk mountains than any other guide or mountaineer in Canadian history. His legacy for Canadian mountaineering is internationally recognized [4]. After Ed and his family moved to the town center, the house became the home of his brother, Swiss guide Walter Feuz, and his family, in 1915. Purchased by Walter in 1959, he and his wife Johanna continued living in the house until their passing in 1984 resp. 1987 [5]. In the following years their descendants looked after the property and ensured the chalet was well-maintained. Occasional tours were offered to the public [4]. The house is a simple two storey, front-gabled, wood frame structure set on a full concrete basement. The wood and stucco building includes many decorative elements featured on the five large roof brackets, bargeboards and two different ornate balconies. Decorative panels with shapes similar to the exclamation point have been set into the exterior stair railings. Adding to the overall Swiss character of the house, the building’s exterior is primarily finished with cedar shingles painted a redwood color [4]. The interior of the house is divided into 3 rooms on the first floor and 4 bedrooms on the second floor, with 3 storage rooms in the basement. The living room is fitted with a fireplace, which was originally installed as the only means of heating. While the house has undergone some restoration over the years, the interior only changed slightly, with its artefacts still exactly as they were when the Feuz family lived in the house [4].

Continue reading about the Edelweiss Swiss Village.

Notes

This site is located on the traditional unceded territory of the Ktunaxa and Secwepemc peoples, and the chosen home of the Métis Nation Columbia River Society and other diverse Indigenous people. We acknowledge the many First Nations, Métis and Inuit who have lived in and cared for these lands for generations. We are grateful for the traditional Knowledge Keepers and Elders who are still with us today and those who have gone before us. We make this acknowledgement as an act of reconciliation and gratitude to those whose territory we reside on or are visiting.

This page was written in part by Dr. Ilona Spaar.

[1] Spaar, Ilona. Swiss Guides: Shaping Mountain Culture in Western Canada. The Consulate General of Switzerland Vancouver, Initial Print & Copy Center, Vancouver BC.

[2] Banff and Lake Louise Tourism 2024. History & Heritage. Electronic document, https://www.banfflakelouise.com/history-heritage, accessed August 20, 2024.

[3] Parks Canada 2024. Indigenous Connections, Yoho National Park. Governmet of Canada. Electronic document, https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/bc/yoho/autochtone-indigenous, accessed August 20, 2024.

[4] Palumbo, Colleen 2015, Historic Structure Report for Edward Feuz House, prepared for Golden Museum and Archives.

[5] Spaar, Ilona 2022, Conversation with Brittany Newman & Colleen Palumbo, Golden Museum and Archives.

This photo gallery shows historic and modern photos of the Swiss Edelweiss Village and associated people. Historic images have been provided by the Golden Museum & Archives, the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, and the Feuz Family archive. The modern images were collected by the Capture2Presev team.