End of an era

last updated 8 January 2015

Davos, Switzerland

The Alpine sanatorium that German writer Thomas Mann immortalized in his novel The Magic Mountain is to close this month. Tuberculosis sufferers from across Europe used to flock to the Valbella Clinic in Davos for the famously healthful climate. Although tuberculosis remains a problem, especially in Eastern Europe, antibiotics are considered a more effective cure these days, and health insurance companies have become reluctant to pay for patients to travel to the Swiss Alps. “It’s a shame,” said clinic spokeswoman Maria Rieder. “We have wonderful surroundings. It’s our south-facing view Mann writes about.”