Left and center: View of Lake Silvaplana from the route.
Right: Tracks for the counter-clockwise hike around Silvaplana.
We camped at Camping Silvaplana for three nights in late August into early September. The first night was a soggy, rain-pelted affair — the kind where you start questioning your life choices around 3 a.m. But then the weather shifted: dry, cool, and brilliantly sunny for the next two days. The kind of alpine days that make you forget the soggy night and remember exactly why you came.
Lake Silvaplana is in the Upper Engadin valley of the Canton of Grisons, Switzerland. It takes its name from the village of Silvaplana, at the northern end of the lake. The campground was on the shore of the lake on the edge of the village. Several 3,000+ meter peaks keep watch over the surreal, milky-turquoise lake — Piz Corvatsch, Piz Julier, and Piz Surlej among them — giving the whole scene that “yes, this is Switzerland” postcard feel.
In Ecce Homo, Friedrich Nietzsche recounts conceiving his idea of the Eternal Recurrence while walking in the woods beside Lake Silvaplana in August 1881. We’re pretty sure we walked right past the rock in question without realizing it. Only later, in the Nietzsche-Haus in Sils-Segl Maria, did we connect the dots. Nietzsche stayed in a modest room in the house of the Durisch family that is today the museum in Sils-Segl Maria. He spent seven summers, 1881 and 1883—88, in Engadin.
The Silvaplana lake is fed by the Inn River (En in Romansh, Aenus in Latin). The Inn’s source is Lägh dal Lunghin (Lake Lunghin) not far away from Silvaplana. From there, the water begins its 518 km journey to the Danube, flowing through Switzerland, Austria, and Germany before joining the Danube. Fun fact: the Engadin is the only Swiss valley whose waters eventually end up in the Black Sea. And drum roll please...Innsbruck is also on the Inn and literally means “bridge over the Inn.” Cue the head slap. How did we not realize that sooner?
Length: 6 km
Duration: 6 hours (3 hours 20 minutes moving)
Elevation gain: 170 m
Location: Switzerland, Engadin
We went clockwise around the lake starting and ending in Silvaplana. At the south end of the lake, we detoured to Sils-Segl Maria and had lunch and visited the Nietzsche-Haus (museum), which accounts for half of the total time reported above.
Right: Tracks for the counter-clockwise hike around Silvaplana.
Overview
We camped at Camping Silvaplana for three nights in late August into early September. The first night was a soggy, rain-pelted affair — the kind where you start questioning your life choices around 3 a.m. But then the weather shifted: dry, cool, and brilliantly sunny for the next two days. The kind of alpine days that make you forget the soggy night and remember exactly why you came.
Lake Silvaplana is in the Upper Engadin valley of the Canton of Grisons, Switzerland. It takes its name from the village of Silvaplana, at the northern end of the lake. The campground was on the shore of the lake on the edge of the village. Several 3,000+ meter peaks keep watch over the surreal, milky-turquoise lake — Piz Corvatsch, Piz Julier, and Piz Surlej among them — giving the whole scene that “yes, this is Switzerland” postcard feel.
In Ecce Homo, Friedrich Nietzsche recounts conceiving his idea of the Eternal Recurrence while walking in the woods beside Lake Silvaplana in August 1881. We’re pretty sure we walked right past the rock in question without realizing it. Only later, in the Nietzsche-Haus in Sils-Segl Maria, did we connect the dots. Nietzsche stayed in a modest room in the house of the Durisch family that is today the museum in Sils-Segl Maria. He spent seven summers, 1881 and 1883—88, in Engadin.
The Silvaplana lake is fed by the Inn River (En in Romansh, Aenus in Latin). The Inn’s source is Lägh dal Lunghin (Lake Lunghin) not far away from Silvaplana. From there, the water begins its 518 km journey to the Danube, flowing through Switzerland, Austria, and Germany before joining the Danube. Fun fact: the Engadin is the only Swiss valley whose waters eventually end up in the Black Sea. And drum roll please...Innsbruck is also on the Inn and literally means “bridge over the Inn.” Cue the head slap. How did we not realize that sooner?
The hike
Length: 6 km
Duration: 6 hours (3 hours 20 minutes moving)
Elevation gain: 170 m
Location: Switzerland, Engadin
We went clockwise around the lake starting and ending in Silvaplana. At the south end of the lake, we detoured to Sils-Segl Maria and had lunch and visited the Nietzsche-Haus (museum), which accounts for half of the total time reported above.
Most of the elevation gain of the hike is on the northwest side of the lake when you are above the lake. The first part of the hike from Silvaplana to Sils, going clockwise, is along the lake more or less.
We stopped for lunch at La Passerella in Sils and had a dish called capuns engadinese and finished with a slice of blueberry pie. Capuns engadinese is a traditional dish from Switzerland’s Engadin valley, made by wrapping a spätzle-like dough mixed with dried meats and herbs in Swiss chard leaves. The bundles are gently simmered in milk and broth, then served with cheese, bacon, or onions for a hearty Alpine meal. You might need a hearty meal before tackling Nietzsche.
Eternal recurrence
At its simplest, Nietzsche's Eternal Recurrence is the thought that everything in the universe, every event, every moment, every detail of your life, will happen again, in exactly the same way, an infinite number of times. Time is not a straight line moving toward a final goal, but a cycle that repeats eternally. The question is: How would you react? If the idea crushes you, it reveals a deep dissatisfaction with life. If you could embrace it joyfully, you’ve reached what Nietzsche calls the “highest formula of affirmation”. A radical yes to existence.
And your reaction would be? Would you lie?
Speaking of liars, or at least falsifiers, Nietzsche's sister comes to mind. As exhibit 97 in the Nietzsche-Haus explains: "As the executor of the literary estate, Elisabeth Förster- Nietzsche falsified letters and writings of her brother and thereby created a glorified image of Nietzsche that corresponded to her own political and German nationalist ideas. She also compiled the first Nietzsche biography. Alongside the false depictions, we also find insight here into Friedrich Nietzsche's personal life."
Photos
Left and center: Views from the trail around Lake Silvaplana.
Right: Our campground for the stay in Silvaplana.
Left: Capuns engadinese at La Passarella in Sils.
Center: Blueberry pie at La Passarella in Sils.
Right: A deer symbol on a bench along Lake Silvaplana.
Right: A deer symbol on a bench along Lake Silvaplana.
Left and center: Views of Sils-Segl Maria in Engadin.
Right: Center of Silvaplana village.
Right: Center of Silvaplana village.
Left: Lake Silvaplana - Silvaplanersee - in the morning looking southwest.
Right: The Fedacla River in Sils-Segl Maria, Engadin.
Left: Nietzsche-Haus in Sils-Segl Maria, Engadin.
Right: Nietzsche's room in the Nietzsche Haus.
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