Mürren Die Renntage der Kanonen 1930 Vintage Skiing Poster – Alex Walter Diggelmann

Mürren Die Renntage der Kanonen 1930 Vintage Skiing Poster – Alex Walter Diggelmann

In the early 1920s, Mürren was originally just a little farming village tucked away in the Swiss Alps. However, the founding of the Kandahar Ski Club at the Palace Hotel in Murren in 1924 was soon to change that. The club started by Sir Arnold Lunn and some fellow British skiers at the Palace Hotel in Murren set out to raise the standard of Downhill and Slalom skiing and secure international recognition for the sports.

This vintage Murren skiing poster was produced in 1931 to advertise both skiing events.

Mürren FIS Alpine World Ski Championships

The first was the inaugural FIS Alpine World Ski Championships which took place at Mürren between 19-22 February 1931. The second event was the fourth edition of the Arlberg-Kandahar downhill race held on the 15 and 16 March. The FIS commissioned artist Walter Digglemann to create the poster. Digglemann’s dramatic poster of a slalom skier weaving his way between two flags on his fast descent down the course was the result. The details of the two events are featured on one of the gate flags and the text Die Renntage der Kanonen which means ‘The Race of the Cannons appears at the foot of the poster sheet. The name of the race is a reference to the resort’s snow cannons that help maintain the snow levels needed for skiing. Today the snow cannons in Murren are positioned to cover the village runs (Bob run & Palace run) as well as the Muttlern, Bietenhorn, Kanonenrohr and the Lauterbrunnen runs .

The 1931 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships competition consisted of just four events, downhill and slalom for men and women. Seven nations, Australia, Austria, Germany, Britain, Italy and Switzerland participated in the competition. Two Swiss skiers won the men’s events with Walter Prager taking gold in the Downhill and David Zogg in the Men’s Slalom. British skier Esme Mackinnon took gold in both of the women’s events.

Throughout the 1930s, the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships were held annually in Europe, until interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. Following the war, between 1948 and 1982 the championships were connected with the Winter Olympics.

The poster offers a fantastic image that captures the energy and excitement of the, then,  relatively new sport.

Mürren Die Renntage der Kanonen, the Inferno Downhill ski race

The second event advertised on the poster is the 4th Arlberg-Kandhar ski race, better known now as ‘The Inferno Downhill’.

The race was started in 1928 by a group of ski-crazed daredevil Brits who bravely tackled the dangerous and treacherous run, un-pisted and with no gates, no helmets, special clothing, no spectators or judges. The 17 Kandahar members simply climbed to the summit of the Schilthorn over two days, before setting off in a mass start for the race to Lauterbrunnen in the valley bottom.

The race continues to this day and 2023 will see the 79th edition of the International Inferno Ski Races take place at Murren. The famous race is now the longest Downhill in the world starting from the Schilthorn at 2,970m and finishing in Lauterbrunnen, a run of over 14.9km. The race is so popular that it is limited to 1,850 competitors, starting at 12 second intervals throughout the day. The fastest entrants will complete the 15.8 km from the Schilthorn to Lauterbrunnen in under 15 minutes.

Mürren, one of Switzerland’s most popular skiing resorts

Mürren is a beautiful traditional alpine mountain village in the Bernese Highlands of Switzerland. It is perched on the side of the majestic Schilthorn mountain and cannot be reached by road. Access is only possible by gondola or the cog-railway which was one of the first ski lifts in Europe. The village features mesmerizing vistas of some of the most iconic mountains in the world, the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. Mürren is one of the most popular tourist spots in Switzerland. While the village is beautiful all year round, it is during the summer and winter months when it really comes alive with tourists.  It has a year-round population of just 450 people, but has 2,000 hotel beds!

Where was On Her Majesty Secret Service filmed?

For film buffs, the village of Mürren became the setting for Piz Gloria – the lair of the cat-stroking villain Blofeld in the James Bond film ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ and visitors might also recognise the breath-taking landscape from Clint Eastwood’s ‘The Eiger Sanction’.

Murren Skiing Poster, as seen on Better Call Saul

Eagle-eyed fans of the 2015 AMC American TV series Better Call Saul may have noticed the Mürren Vintage Ski Travel poster on wall in one of the show’s episodes. The show is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the poster can be seen hanging on the wall in the law office of Jimmy McGill.

Better Call Saul is a spin-off from the enormously successful Breaking Bad TV series that stars Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn and Bob Odenkirk. In an AMC press release in 2014 described the series as being set six years before Saul Goodman meets Walter White. When we meet him, the man who will become Saul Goodman is known as Jimmy McGill, a small-time lawyer searching for his destiny, and, more immediately, hustling to make ends meet. Working alongside, and, often, against Jimmy, is ‘fixer’ Mike Ehrmantraut, a beloved character introduced in ‘Breaking Bad.’ The series will track Jimmy’s transformation into Saul Goodman, the man who puts ‘criminal’ in ‘Criminal lawyer.’

Where can I buy a Murren Skiing Poster

There are many reasons why vintage posters vary so much in value. However, given that this poster features a superb, dynamic image of a slalom skier, and it was created by Alex Walter Digglemann,  considered to be one of the great Swiss poster artists, you know this is going to be worth a bit. Add to the mix that the poster has appeared on a popular TV series, and is also pretty rare, it doesn’t really come as a surprise that original copies of this poster are well-sought after and can fetch high prices when they appear at auction.

An original copy of the Mürren Die Renntage der Kanonen poster sold in 2017 for £3,500. Just five years later, a copy was listed on an online auction site in an estimated price guide of between $5,000 – $15,000.

There’s no doubt if you can find one, and can afford to buy an original, you’re on to a winner. Original posters make a great investment. Chances are the value will only increase and in just a few years you’ll be able to sell it on for more than you paid for it.

Unfortunately, for most of us, an investment at this level isn’t even close to being a possibility. This is where our stunning high-quality reproductions come into their own. They cost a fraction of an original and still look absolutely fantastic when they’re framed and hung on your living room wall.

Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears, or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.

The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £15. So you can bag a bargain of print and frame for a great price.