"What I have never seen, I now saw." For the Zurich Oberland textile manufacturer, railway king, and nature lover Adolf Guyer-Zeller (1839-1899), traveling meant working on himself, which was closely tied to writing. It is therefore interesting to explore the writing strategies he employed and the travel philosophy he developed. Through excerpts from travel diaries and letters—especially from his youth—a vivid personality of the late 19th century emerges. In his perceptions, thoughts, and beliefs, the visionary appears, who later had the Jungfrau Railway built and, as an observant contemporary, formed his own viewpoints on issues of ethics, religion, business philosophy, the question of slavery in North America (1860), and attitudes towards women. Who is the man who can combine strict biblical faith with liberal ideas while holding the provisional opinion that slavery is a "necessary evil"? Who is the man who sees women as housewives, yet ultimately as pillars of the state? Who is the patron who cares deeply about the well-being of his workers but does not wish to reduce working hours for children for economic reasons? Who is the aesthete who expresses himself virtuously on literature and architecture, yet considers the 'almighty dollar' to be stronger? Based on many newly accessible sources, the author presents a multifaceted picture of a cosmopolitan of his time from a historical and linguistic perspective, which is likely to polarize readers even today.