Fredi M. Murer's audio documents are now online

"The recordings are unique contemporary documents"

During his research and filming in the mountains of Uri, Murer conducted many conversations, which he recorded on tape. This resulted in extensive audio material in the form of around 160 magnetic tapes. The mountain people talk about their lives, work, hopes and worries about the future in the rugged mountain region. "The recordings are a unique document of a rapidly changing world. They capture voices from social classes that are not documented anywhere else. This is also significant beyond the canton of Uri," says Romed Aschwanden, Managing Director of the "Cultures of the Alps" Institute.

Fredi M. Murer had only used a small part of these recordings for his film and the tapes had been lying dormant in his archive for almost half a century. "When you listen to these recordings, you learn a lot about the reality of life for mountain farmers at the time. They weren't listened to very much in the 1970s," says Sophia Murer, the filmmaker's daughter. "It was therefore important for my father and me to preserve these rare contemporary documents before they became unplayable due to age and were lost forever." With financial support from the Dätwyler Foundation, the Lottery Fund of the Canton of Uri and the Otto Gamma Foundation, Sophia Murer and Paul Avondet, peakfein studio, digitized these valuable sound recordings.