Reizigers en paardenkoets bij Hotel Furka aan de Furkapas before 1899

This photograph by Photoglob & Co. captures travelers and a horse-drawn carriage at the Hotel Furka on the Furka Pass. Taken in Switzerland, in September 1899, it encapsulates a specific moment in the history of leisure and mobility. The image is more than a scenic view; it's a snapshot of early tourism and the developing infrastructure to support it. The Furka Pass, a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps, was a challenging route, and hotels like this one emerged to accommodate travelers. The photograph is evidence of a changing society, one where travel for leisure was becoming more accessible. The image serves as a reminder that what we often consider natural landscapes are in fact cultural landscapes. The Furka Pass was not simply a geographical feature but a space shaped by human endeavor. To fully understand the picture's social context, we might consult travel guides, hotel brochures, and engineering reports from the period. Art, as this photograph reminds us, is always contingent on social and institutional circumstances.