Author: Maarten Koning

The Aubette in Basel

The Aubette in Strasbourg? Wrong, the Museum of Art (Kunstmuseum) in Basel. The museum pays attention to Sophie Taeuber (1889-1943). The Swiss-born artist (Davos) studied applied arts at St. Gall and Munich. The British Arts and Crafts Movement had a profound influence on her, and she was deeply committed to manual craftsmanship and the beauty of simple materials.

In 1916, Zurich’s trade school hired her to teach design and embroidery. She met her future husband, Hans Arp (1886-1966), in Zurich and became involved in the Dada movement.  She married Hans Arp in 1922, hence the name Taeuber-Arp.  Hans Arp (1886-1966) was from Strasbourg.

After a long period of artistic development, including Dada in Zurich (1916-1928), the international avant-garde, and the so-called Cercle et Carré and constructivism in Paris, Sophie and her husband were engaged in the Aubette project in Strasbourg.

Their (revolutionary) language of colours, geometric abstraction and modern architecture was based on compositions of square and rectangular fields of colour. Aubette, a neoclassical building from the eighteenth century, was renovated by Sophie and other avant-garde artists.

She took on the tearoom, the Aubette bar, and the lobby bar. Her husband and the Dutch designer Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931, founder of the Stijl) designed other project components. The Aubette is a museum nowadays.

Sophie exhibited 24 abstract works in the ‘Konstruktivisten exhibition at the Kunsthalle (Hall of Art) in Basel in 1937.

(Further information: Gelebte Abstraktion/Living Abstraction, www.kunstmuseumbasel.ch).

Monuments on Lake Geneva

The Association des Amis des Bateaux à Vapeur du Léman (ABVL) is an association dedicated to raising funds for the conservation and maintenance of the eight steamships operated by the Compagnie Générale de Navigation sur le lac Léman (CGN).

The eight ships are the Montreux, Vevey, Italy, Switzerland, Savoie, Simplon, Helvetia and Rhône. They were built between 1904 and 1927. They all have their architectural peculiarities and styles.

(Source and further information: www.abvl.ch).

Le Pays-d´Enhaut

Le Pays-d´Enhaut belonged to the Count of Gruyère until 1555. After his bankruptcy, the region was ruled by Bern (the city also introduced the Reformation).

The region was assigned to the new canton of Vaud by the  Act of Mediation (Mediationsakte) in 1803.

The three most important villages are Rougemont, Château-d´Oex, and Rossinière; smaller villages include, among others, Flendruz, Gérignoz, Le Pré, Les Moulins, and La Tine.

Château-d´Oex owes its name to the (disappeared) castle of the Counts of Gruyères.

The region is known for its chalets, Parc Gruyère Pays d´Enhaut, cheese production and four (Romanesque) churches. The protestant Church in Château-d´Oex was restored after the great fire of 1800 and still dominates the village’s skyline.

The church was rebuilt for the first time in the 15th century. The other (Romanesque) churches are in Rossinière (13th century), Rougemont (1080) and L´Etivaz (15th century). The villages encompass many jewels of architecture, amongst others :

In Rossinière:

Le Borjoz (1604), le Grand Chalet (1754), Clos Fleuri (1600), l´Hotel de Ville (1645), la Maison de la Place (1664);

In Rougemont:

Les Foisses (1705), Hôtel de Commune (1709), La Cotze (1654), la Maison du Cordier (1655), les Clématites (1647), les Arolles (1701);

In Château-d´Oex:

La Vielle Cure des Poses (1551) and la Maison des Monnaires (1753).

The museum du Pays d´Enhaut in Château-d´Oex shows the (cultural) history of the region.

(Source and further information: www.chateau-doex.ch).

The St. Vincent Church in Montreux

Montreux (Canton of Vaud) is derived from the Latin word monasterium, meaning a monastery. The church of St. Vincent was the centre of the village.

The monastery’s location indicates where the old centre of Montreux was until the 19th century. Nowadays, one drives past this beautiful monument, which is also worth visiting.

The first building phase dates from the eighth to the ninth century during the Carolingian Empire and then the Burgundian Kingdom (888-1032). The Romanesque contours are still visible. The interior was adapted to the Gothic style in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

After Bern’s occupation of the Land of Vaud (Le Pays de Vaud) in 1536, the church was converted to the Protestant faith and has since been called Le Temple. The modern stained glass windows are by local artist Jean Prahin (1918-2008).

Montreux

A walk along the shores of Lake Geneva in Montreux (canton Vaud)  encounters politicians, journalists, artists and royals from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), Gustave Coubert (1819-1877), Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881), Empress Sisi (1837-1898), Ignacy Paderewski (1860-1941), Henryk Sienkiewics (1846-1916), Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), Carl Gustaf Emil von Mannerheim (1867-1951) or, for example, Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) lived or died here or regularly visited the town.

The architecture, music halls, and art activities witness the rich artistic life and late 19th and early 20th-century splendour. The old centre gives an impression of life before the arrival of the beau and artistic monde from the middle of the nineteenth century.

It also shows that Montreux and the surrounding area have more to offer than just statues and (jazz) music. Chaplin’s World (Corsier-sur-Vevey), Le Corbusier’s villa ‘le Lac’, La Tour de Peilz and the museum of games (musée suisse du Jeu), Vevey and its Alimentarium, museums and old town, the Chillon Castle, the splendid parks and gardens and the proximity of the Alps offer a unique spectrum.

(Bron: www.montreux.ch).

Ham Cooked in Asphalt

A restaurant in Val-de-Travers offers a remarkable recipe: ham cooked in asphalt. Ham cooked in asphalt was eaten by the miners.

The asphalt mines in the valley were exploited from the beginning of the nineteenth century. Already in 1711, the Greek physician Eirini d’Eyrinys (1630-1730) discovered the first medical applications of asphalt and its use for the production of cement.

The first mine was an open-pit mine in the Combe-Vaubayon. The exploitation of the Spesa mine started in Travers in 1830. The mine became the property of an English company, the “Neuchâtel Asphalte Company Ltd.”. The mine was bought by another English company in 1961, but was closed in 1986.

(Source: www.mines-asphalte.ch).

The Final Speech in the Great Dictator

“The Great Dictator” by Charlie Chaplin (1887-1977) and the values expressed in the film’s final speech still resonate and inspire today’s world. The speech is as relevant as ever.

A touch screen kiosk in the exhibition (Chaplin and the Great Dictator, Chaplin’s World)  and the site www.letusallunite.world will allow everyone to morph into the Tramp. These images will be used to form letters of the alphabet, arranged to recreate the film’s final speech.

(Source and further: www.letusallunite.world).

The Vineyards of Lake Biel

The vineyards of St. Peter’s Island, the communes of Erlach (Cerlier), Tschugg, Gampelen (Champion) and Anet (Ins) and of the villages on the northern shores of Lake Biel (Bielersee/lac de Bienne, canton of Bern) already existed more than 1000 years ago.

In the Middle Ages, abbeys and monasteries cultivated the vineyards. The Bernese patrician families took over after the Reformation,

The monks and the Bernese patricians belong to the past, but the small wine villages of Schafis (Chavannes), Ligerz (Gléresse), Schernelz (Cerniaux), Twann (Douanne), Kapf, Wingreis (Daucher), Alfermée and Vingelz (Vigneules) have lost none of their charm and traditions.

The urbanised and rural areas, the cultures and languages of German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland (the Romandy) and the tranquillity of the lake and the steep slopes of the southern foot of the Jura meet in this region.

(Source and further information: www.bielerseewein.ch).