# Walter Corti
**Walter Robert Corti** (11 September 1910, Dübendorf – 12 January 1990, [Winterthur](https://www.edgepedia.org/winterthur)) was a Swiss writer, philosopher, philanthropist, and publicist, known as editor of the magazine *Du*, as originator of the Pestalozzi Children's Village for war orphans in Trogen, and as founder of the Archiv für genetische Philosophie and the planned Akademie für ethische Forschung[1](https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&cqlMode=true&query=nid%3D118522299) • [2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Life dates | Born 11 September 1910 in Dübendorf; died 12 January 1990 in Winterthur[3](http://www.wrcorti.ch/biographie_01.html) |
| Breakthrough | First prize in the 1940 "Krieg in Europa" competition of the Schweizerische Hochschulzeitung for the essay "ratio militans"; Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer Prize 1942, which he himself called "völlig unverdient" (completely undeserved)[2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235) |
| *Du* editorship | Editor of the monthly magazine *Du* 1942–1957; the whole editorial team resigned in 1957 in protest against the publisher[2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235) |
| Kinderdorf Pestalozzi | His 1944 *Du* appeal "Ein Dorf für die leidenden Kinder" launched a nationwide campaign; foundation stone laid in Trogen on 20 April 1946; president 1946–1950, then honorary president[2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235) • [1](https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&cqlMode=true&query=nid%3D118522299) |
| Archive and academy | Built the Archiv für genetische Philosophie from 1950; organized the 1954 Bad Ragaz Schelling conference and proposed an Akademie für ethische Forschung with a planned library of one to two million volumes[2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235) |
| Honors | Honorary doctorate in philosophy, University of Tübingen, 1957; Albert Schweitzer Prize, 1975; Carl Heinrich Ernst Prize, 1980; recognition prize from the city of Winterthur[3](http://www.wrcorti.ch/biographie_01.html) • [4](https://www.appenzellerzeitung.ch/ostschweiz/appenzellerland/mehr-als-pestalozzidorf-gruender-ld.168548) |
| Papers | Nachlass at the Zentralbibliothek Zürich (donated 1993); the Philosophisches Archiv Corti at the Ethics Center of the University of Zurich since March 1995[5](https://swisscollections.ub.k8s-001.unibas.ch/Record/ZBC3036dcf661f04819a976582c6606bde1) • [2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235) |
## Life
Corti was born on 11 September 1910 in Dübendorf as the third child of Helene Corti-Stamm, from [Westphalia](https://www.edgepedia.org/westphalia), and Arnold Corti, from Stabio and Winterthur[3](http://www.wrcorti.ch/biographie_01.html). He first came to the attention of the intellectual public in 1940, when his competition essay "ratio militans" for the Schweizerische Hochschulzeitung on the theme "Krieg in Europa" won first prize[6](https://www.winterthur-glossar.ch/robert-walter-corti). The award brought him the Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer Prize in 1942, a distinction he himself considered completely undeserved[2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235).
**The *Du* years.** In 1942 he took a post as editor at the monthly magazine *Du*, working alongside Arnold Kübler, the photographer Emil Schulthess, Werner Bischof, Rodolfo Olgiati, and [Elisabeth Rotten](https://www.edgepedia.org/elisabeth-rotten)[3](http://www.wrcorti.ch/biographie_01.html). Kübler, Corti, Schulthess, and others gave the magazine its legendary, unmistakable profile between 1942 and 1957, when the editorial team resigned in protest against the publisher[2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235).
**The Kinderdorf.** In 1944 Corti published in *Du* the appeal "Ein Dorf für die leidenden Kinder", calling for the full orphans of the Second World War to be taken in. The appeal triggered a nationwide campaign; despite enormous difficulties and resistance, the foundation stone of the Kinderdorf Pestalozzi in Trogen (Appenzell Ausserrhoden) was laid on 20 April 1946[2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235). Corti served as the village's president from 1946 to 1950 and thereafter as honorary president[1](https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&cqlMode=true&query=nid%3D118522299).
**Winterthur.** In 1964 the family and the archive moved into the villa "Kareol" of the poet Hans Reinhart, who had died the year before, at Römerstrasse 29 in Winterthur; by 1965 the archive held over 21,000 titles[2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235). The villa remained a place of philosophical exchange until his death on 12 January 1990[6](https://www.winterthur-glossar.ch/robert-walter-corti).
## Works
Corti's own thought, described by the Appenzeller Zeitung as a mixture of natural philosophy and ethical idealism, lies mainly in two essay volumes, *Heimkehr ins Eigentliche* (1979) and *Der Mensch im Werden Gottes* (1988)[4](https://www.appenzellerzeitung.ch/ostschweiz/appenzellerland/mehr-als-pestalozzidorf-gruender-ld.168548). The German National Library also lists *Das Entscheidende liegt im Wandel des Denkens* ([Schaffhausen](https://www.edgepedia.org/schaffhausen): Novalis-Verlag, c 1980)[1](https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&cqlMode=true&query=nid%3D118522299).
A multi-volume collected edition edited by Guido Schmidlin appeared with Verlag Paul Haupt in 2002. Volume 1, *Heimkehr ins Eigentliche*, gathers 24 contributions first published between 1935 and 1975, alongside autobiographical texts of general significance, with a short biography and complete bibliography[7](http://www.wrcorti.ch/schriften_01.html). Volume 4, *Ethische Forschung*, documents his practical efforts to found the academy and includes a detailed history of his library[7](http://www.wrcorti.ch/schriften_01.html). Volume 5, *Ein Dorf für die leidenden Kinder*, documents how the Kinderdorf idea was realized and how the Pestalozzi Children's Village developed from 1949 to 1972 under the leadership of Arthur Bill[7](http://www.wrcorti.ch/schriften_01.html).
## Role in Swiss intellectual life
**The archive and the academy plan.** From 1950 Corti systematically built his library into the Archiv für genetische Philosophie. From 1951 a friends' circle formed around Maja and Carl Bär-Brockmann, at times numbering up to a hundred like-minded members, who helped process the documents[2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235). In 1954 he organized an international conference in Bad Ragaz for the 100th anniversary of Schelling's death and launched in *Du* his plan for an Akademie für ethische Forschung, with a planned library of one to two million volumes[2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235).
**Recognition.** The University of Tübingen granted him an honorary doctorate in philosophy in 1957, and further honors followed: the Albert Schweitzer Prize in 1975, the Carl Heinrich Ernst Prize in 1980, and a recognition prize from the city of Winterthur[3](http://www.wrcorti.ch/biographie_01.html) • [4](https://www.appenzellerzeitung.ch/ostschweiz/appenzellerland/mehr-als-pestalozzidorf-gruender-ld.168548). The Dalai Lama repeatedly mentioned him with praise, since a large Tibetan colony lived at the Kinderdorf Pestalozzi after the flight from Tibet[4](https://www.appenzellerzeitung.ch/ostschweiz/appenzellerland/mehr-als-pestalozzidorf-gruender-ld.168548).
## Reception and legacy
When Corti died aged 79 in 1990, practically all Swiss newspapers in all language regions published detailed tributes, almost always focused exclusively on the Kinderdorf[4](https://www.appenzellerzeitung.ch/ostschweiz/appenzellerland/mehr-als-pestalozzidorf-gruender-ld.168548). Arthur Bill, who led the Kinderdorf for 24 years, called him a "Feuerkopf und Animator" (hothead and animator) whose impetuous temperament was rather hindering in realizing his big ideas[4](https://www.appenzellerzeitung.ch/ostschweiz/appenzellerland/mehr-als-pestalozzidorf-gruender-ld.168548).
The afterlife of his institutions was troubled. According to the 2010 *Librarium* study, a deaccessioning dispute preceded the foundation board's approval, on 2 December 1994, of the transfer of 15,000 to 20,000 selected volumes to the Canton of Zurich; since March 1995 the Philosophisches Archiv Corti has been housed in the Ethics Center of the [University of Zurich](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-zurich) in the Villa Abegg[2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235). The estate biography gives a different account, saying the library of over 30,000 volumes was donated by Corti in 1976 to the Stiftung Akademie für ethische Forschung and passed in 1989 to the Ethics Center[3](http://www.wrcorti.ch/biographie_01.html). The foundation itself was dissolved: its commercial-register entry was deleted on 14 May 2009[2](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235).
## References
1. [Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek – Walter Robert Corti (GND 118522299)](https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&cqlMode=true&query=nid%3D118522299)
2. [«... nichts Totes ...»: das Archiv für genetische Philosophie von Walter Robert Corti, Librarium 2010](https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=lib-006%3A2010%3A53%3A%3A235)
3. [Walter Robert Corti – Biographie (estate website)](http://www.wrcorti.ch/biographie_01.html)
4. [Mehr als Pestalozzidorf-Gründer, Appenzeller Zeitung](https://www.appenzellerzeitung.ch/ostschweiz/appenzellerland/mehr-als-pestalozzidorf-gruender-ld.168548)
5. [Corti, Walter Robert (1910-1990): Nachlass, swisscollections / Zentralbibliothek Zürich](https://swisscollections.ub.k8s-001.unibas.ch/Record/ZBC3036dcf661f04819a976582c6606bde1)
6. [Walter Robert Corti, Winterthur Glossar](https://www.winterthur-glossar.ch/robert-walter-corti)
7. [Walter Robert Corti – Schriften (estate website bibliography)](http://www.wrcorti.ch/schriften_01.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Writers and literary biographies › Biographers, critics, and specialist non-fiction writers*
*Initially written Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license