name of Pedrazzini is synonymous with wealth and success. “Some people think I’m a lord of the manor, but I’m first and foremost a kid from Campo,” says the master of the house, who used to run a law firm in Zurich and was vice-president of The Liberals (FDP). Most of the ‘palazzi’ in the village belong to this family, and the family name is to the fore in Campo’s cemetery. What was the secret of their success? “The efforts made by some of Campo’s residents to educate their children,” replies Vincenzo Pedrazzini. Most of the rich Ticino merchants who returned to Switzerland during the Napoleonic Wars chose to leave the country for good. They emigrated to the Americas and to Australia, as did tens of thousands of other Ticino residents. Most of these residents were driven to leave by poverty. Campo’s summer reawakening As a child, Vincenzo made hay and milked cows with the other people of Campo. “We were rich, but the others weren’t poor,” he says. The local dignitary began his project of buying up, renovating and reselling almost ten houses and chalets in 2012. “No one will live there all year round, but at least it’ll get people to come to the village,” the former lawyer believes. Every summer, Campo reawakens as dozens of Ticino families arrive to make the most of the cool nights and the precious peace and quiet. “The women and children arrive in midJune and stay until mid-August, while the men go back and forth between their jobs and Campo,” according to Vincenzo. “We are not talking about empty beds, here,” he insists. In his view, the law proposed by ecologist Franz Weber to cap the number of second homes in Switzerland at 20 percent does not take account of the country’s diversity. It is true that not many local residents pop round to Fior di Campo for a drink. The fact that the bar is primarily intended for hotel customers has certainly rubbed some people up the wrong way. No more cows and no more schools Marco and his wife Olga set up home a stone’s throw from the hotel. They know it like the back of their hand, since she used to be the manager there and he was the chef. Olga was born in this area. Marco has a collection of village mementos. In an adjoining storage area, he shows us a piece of furniture dating from 1770. On the wall are two large boards feaWalking home alone in the rain: the only school pupil in Campo (far left). The historic picturesque countryside of Campo, right beside a carefully renovated building that today serves as a second home. A ‘Da vendere’ (For Sale) sign, a common sight in Campo (left). Chapel in Campo: the coat of arms of the Pedrazzini family hangs above the main entrance (centre). The house where the employees of the local village inn once lived (right). Photos: Stéphane Herzog Swiss Review / July 2024 / No.4 27
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