Since more than 140 years, a little swiss girl has struck the hearts of many children, and adults around the world. We are of course talking about Heidi, the protagonist of Johanna Spyri’s novel of the same name, a fitting name for a story that has captured the hearts of many. Authored between 1880 and 1881, it quickly prospered, and became one of the bestselling books in the world, and its legacy and story have spanned across generations, still being a very popular book today.
Johanna Spyri’s legacy continues to live on, she made an invaluable and irreplaceable contribution to swiss cultural and literary history, with her novel. The fact that her Heidi is still enjoyed today, is due to the nature of Heidi. It conveys values and ideas, that many children and adults from all cultures, strive for, presenting them with an idealistic world, which has been buried in today’s expeditious world.

These values have a strong attachment to the home: Love for nature, freedom, health and zest for life . Heidi is both a legend and a role model, at the same time, which draws her a lot admiration.
Heidi belongs to her homeland of the Grisons (Graubünden), a land of beauty, a land of authentic and exciting mountain adventures. There’s more: various cinema films, television films, books, reports and media coverage, make Heidi to the most famous person in Switzerland.

Nonetheless, in the small, picturesque town of Maienfeld, is the Heididorf (Heidi's Village), a place where you can experience, up close and personal the life of someone who lived during Heidi’s era. This is transcended through the walk to the mountain hut, which takes one through alpine meadows, while staring into the valley below, and to the snowy mountain peaks above. For anyone who has made the journey to the mountain hut, to enjoy the view, they will understand why this particular spot inspired Johanna Spyri to write her novels on Heidi.
The story of Heidi, has been translated into over 55 languages, while continuing to inspire musicals, animations and films to this day. To promulgate the story of Heidi, her story has been visualized in over 18 feature films (the most recent being produced in 2015), eight animated cartoons and many musicals, which have helped spread her story worldwide. Many of these works and other Heidi works, are exhibited in the Johanna Spyri's Heidi World in the Heididorf.