Simplon Pass
Valais, Switzerland
View of the Old Spittel on the south ramp of the pass. The old hospice was built during the time of the entrepreneur and politician Kaspar Stockalper in the 17th century.
Stockalper reorganized the movement of goods and people over the Simplon, contracted the muleteers, who were organized into cooperatives, and developed the medieval mule track into a safe, partly paved and wide pass with bridges.
During the Thirty Years’ War, he profited from the geostrategic importance of the Simplon (many other passes were impassable for trade traffic for a long time due to the war).
Stockalper traded tactically skillfully with all the major powers and thus became one of the richest men in the Valais, and from 1647/48 also had the salt monopoly.
Napoleon also recognized the importance of the Simplon and invested in a better road over the pass for his troop transports.
Today, the transit route is the best-built pass crossing in Switzerland.
The photograph shows the Old Spittel and is meant to remind us of this long history of the Simplon Pass. The road runs along the left side above the building.
