HIF can look back on a long history: It was founded as Institute à Porta on 1st October 1793 by pastor and teacher Andrea Rosius à Porta with a total of 18 students. Eight students came from Zuoz, three from Lavin, one from Scuol and six from Ftan, all children from wealthy Engadin families who lacked proper educational possibilities until then. Andrea Rosius à Porta headed his Institute until 1829, when he handed it over to his two sons. He died in 1838. By 1829, the co-educational Institute counted 556 students.
Influenced by Heinrich Pestalozzi’s approach to education, à Porta promoted imparting knowledge on a basis built on patience, gentleness, and leading by example. He aimed to educate self-responsible, open-minded, kind, and happy young people. Also, à Porta never tired to call upon parents and teachers to challenge the intellect of their children and students to install in them a love of learning.
With the establishment of the first private school in the Engadine, Andrea Rosius à Porta laid an important educational foundation in this region. When the Lower Engadine was opened up by the Rhaetian Railway, the “Hochalpines Töchterinstitut Fetan”, a girls-only school, was founded in 1913 at the current location. The school opened its doors to boys as day students from 1976. In 1993, the school was renamed Hochalpines Institut Ftan and since then has been fully co-educational for day students and boarders.
In the 1993/1994 school year, one of the first and, at that time, unique winter sports school in Switzerland was founded at HIF. Over the years, the sports class has produced several national and international champions as well as Olympic medallists and is now a "Sports Academy" and a "Certified Swiss-Ski Performance Centre" in the disciplines of cross-country skiing / alpine skiing / freestyle snowboarding / biathlon.
In 2021, the Hochalpines Institut Ftan became part of Dulwich College International and thus a member of the international Education in Motion (EiM) family, which represents another important step towards internationalisation.
Consequently, the institute in the heart of the Lower Engadine has grown steadily over all the centuries and now more than ever forms a community characterised by a diversity of personalities and nationalities, a strong sense of community and mutual respect for the individuality of all learners.
'Globally networked, locally anchored' is not just a slogan for us - it is our lifestyle. In our school, global horizons meet local traditions, and we are proud to maintain this balance.
