Until he saw the Valais, Rilke was somewhat dismissive of Switzerland. He wrote to friends from Sils, where Nietzsche found refuge 50 years before, that the “stupid” mountains were no more than “imposing barriers, as senseless as some barred door”. The fields of snow struck him like a white desert and banal tourist bait. Travelling … Continue reading Rilke’s Valais: ‘I have this country in the blood’