James Bond in Switzerland

A stunning photo book! With forewords by George Lazenby and Steven Saltzman!

“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” is arguably Ian Fleming’s most extraordinary Bond adventure. James Bond—the eternal bachelor, the womanizer, the lone wolf, the killer—falls in love, resigns from the Secret Service, and marries the daughter of a mafia boss. But on their honeymoon, his wife is assassinated. Bond weeps. Responsible for this tragedy: Ernst Stavro Blofeld. His nemesis prevents the world’s most famous agent from leading a happy, civilian life. Bond is doomed to turn his professional rivalry with Blofeld into a grim, personal vendetta.

Just as outstanding as Fleming’s novel is its 1969 film adaptation. Shot over the course of six months in Switzerland, the movie features only a handful of studio scenes. Instead, the Swiss Alps themselves were transformed into a massive open-air film studio—starting with the summit station on the Schilthorn in the Bernese Alps. It was first rebuilt to meet the needs of the screenplay, then renamed: Piz Gloria. But the most radical intervention in the natural landscape came at the very end of filming: Roughly 200,000 cubic meters of ice and snow were blasted from the Tschingel Ridge to simulate the avalanche demanded by the novel—carried out, notably, without any official permission from the authorities.

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Not only the landscape and infrastructure were featured in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service—dozens of young men and women from the Lauterbrunnen Valley played key roles in the film.

Mountain farmers, alpine guides, ski instructors, and fearless local daredevils were recruited as stunt performers. And Mürren, the small holiday village perched above Lauterbrunnen, became the production’s headquarters, offering its hotels and tourism infrastructure to support the filmmaking process.

All of these people experienced the shoot up close. They worked on set, helped shape the film, and got to know stars like Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas in person—along with the new James Bond: George Lazenby.

Over the course of those six months, stuntmen, extras, bartenders, hotel managers, and chambermaids lived through countless stories. Many of them compiled private photo albums to preserve the memories.

The authors of this book spoke with many of them—conducting interviews, flipping through their albums, and exploring their collections of memorabilia.

This treasure trove of stories, photographs, and documents forms the foundation and guiding concept behind this photo book.

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After the phenomenal success of Goldfinger (1964), media attention around the James Bond phenomenon reached an entirely new level—nothing like it had been five years earlier.

Instead of dozens of press photos, there were now thousands. Among the most present was the Swiss tabloid Blick, which followed the production almost daily. This photo book draws heavily from such sources. Many of the 700+ photographs are published here for the very first time.

The Blofeld Files is conceived as a photo book—an illustrated time capsule documenting the filming of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in Switzerland. The goal is not to present a meticulous, comprehensive record of the production. Rather, it aims to place the shoot within the sociocultural context and lifestyle of the late 1960s.

The Blofeld Files also deliberately avoids relying heavily on the official set photography provided by the production company, EON. Instead, the images were carefully selected to create an intimate, spontaneous, and authentic closeness to the cast and crew—inviting readers into the fascinating world of the James Bond creators and the vibrant spirit of the 1960s, both in front of and behind the camera.

The Blofeld Files
The Making of the Iconic Alpine Sequence in the James Bond Movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”
Plus: The "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" Guide – Movie Locations as they Were and Are Today
Authors: Peter Waelty, Steffen Appel
Forewords by: George Lazenby and Steven Saltzman
Format: 368 pages, 713 illustrations, five-color print
Language: English
Details: Hardcover, 27 × 33 cm, purple-edged pages
Price: €99 / CHF 105
Publisher: Edition Bleuchamp, 2025
ISBN: 978-3-00-081725-0

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Storys

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  • The Blofeld Files Press Kit

    The Blofeld Files Press Kit

    Everything you need to know about The Blofeld Files if you're thinking about reviewing it.

    The Blofeld Files Press Kit

    Everything you need to know about The Blofeld Files if you're thinking about reviewing it.

  • Impressions from the Book Launch

    Impressions from the Book Launch

    Here are the best images from our book launch event for The Blofeld Files, held on Saturday, March 15, in Zurich. Over the course of a vibrant and varied evening, we...

    Impressions from the Book Launch

    Here are the best images from our book launch event for The Blofeld Files, held on Saturday, March 15, in Zurich. Over the course of a vibrant and varied evening, we...

  • Of Stuntmen and Set Babies

    Of Stuntmen and Set Babies

    From the discovery of Piz Gloria as a film location to the final wrap, the crew spent almost a year in the Bernese Oberland. It’s no surprise that some locals...

    Of Stuntmen and Set Babies

    From the discovery of Piz Gloria as a film location to the final wrap, the crew spent almost a year in the Bernese Oberland. It’s no surprise that some locals...

  • This is why OHMSS is one of the best Bond movies

    This is why OHMSS is one of the best Bond movies

    “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” is perhaps the most extraordinary Bond film in the series.

    This is why OHMSS is one of the best Bond movies

    “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” is perhaps the most extraordinary Bond film in the series.

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