The fascinating history of Monte Verità began in 1900 when a small group of idealists from the Northern Europe settled on the hilltop above Ascona. Their vision was to start a new life, an ideal society based on the principles of freedom, simplicity, a spirito of cooperation, a vegetarian diet and a closer relationship with nature which also included nudism.

Other movements followed at Monte Verità, focussing on psychoanalysis, on sexual revolution and on mythological symbolism. Simultaneous to these new cultural and philosophical currents, new artistic trends were developing. In the early decades of the 20th century, numerous artists, intellectuals and students made Monte Verità their cultural centre. Among those who spent time in the area were Carl Gustav Jung, Karoly Kereny, Erich Maria Remarque, Hermann Hesse, Adolf Portmann, Paul Klee, Hans and Sophie Täuber Arp, Robert Schürch, Oskar Schlemmer, Charlotte Bara, Marianne Von Werefkin, El Lissitzky, Alexei Jawlensky and many others. These were the golden years for Monte Verità.

In 1989 a private foundation (Monte Verità Foundation) was established whose members comprise the Canton Ticino, the Town Council of Ascona and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. A plan was developed to encourage international cultural activities on an academic level through seminars and conventions on such diverse topics as scientific research, literature, history, etc.