Author: Maarten Koning

La Collégiale of Neuchâtel

La Collégiale of Neuchâtel is a medieval monument. The construction of the church began around 1190. A new construction phase included the building of the monastery, the extension of the nave, the west portal and the St Michael’s Chapel. The church was inaugurated in 1276. The southern tower was built around 1300, and the second tower in the 19th century.

Until the beginning of the 13th century, the architecture followed the Romanesque tradition of the Upper Rhine. The Gothic style of the Burgundy and French-speaking Switzerland arrived afterwards.

The cathedral of Lausanne has also inspired its builders. The church shows a similar ensemble of sculpture and statues and anthropomorphic or zoomorphic figures.

The Collégiale and the castle still dominate the city’s skyline.

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

The reformer Guillaume Farel (1489-1565) in front of the church 

Russians in Switzerland

The St. Barbara Church in Vevey (canton of Vaud) is a Russian Orthodox parish belonging to the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in Switzerland after 1816.

The first Russian Orthodox parish in Switzerland was established in Bern on 24 December 1816. Tsar Alexander I (1777-1825) had commissioned the building and its consecration.

The Tsar maintained good relations with the young Confederation of 22 cantons and was also one of its most important advocates at the Congress of Vienna in 1814/1815. One of his most valued advisers was the Swiss Frédéric-César de La Harpe (1754-1838). The parish moved to Geneva in November 1854.

Many Russian aristocrats, artists, students, and revolutionaries resided in Switzerland, particularly around Lake Geneva. Many Russian Orthodox churches were built.

The development of tourism and health resorts also attracted a wealthy clientele. Count Pyotr (Peter) Shuvalov (1827-1889) requested and received permission to build a church in Vevey in memory of his daughter Barbara. Jean-Samuel Késer-Doret  (1813-1902) was the architect. The church was consecrated on 1 November 1878.

(Source and more information about the Orthodox Church in Switzerland: https://orthodoxie.ch).

Le Locle, its Town Hall and the Watch Industry

Le Locle was first mentioned in a document in 1151 as the property of the seigneurs of Valangin and subsequently, the Counts of Neuchâtel.

The heydays came in the nineteenth century with the development of the watch industry. The Town Hall symbolises this small city’s prosperity, cosmopolitanism and grandeur.

The world is the market for the (Horlogerie) industries and services. The Time and Town planning area (L’Espace Temps et Urbanisme) in the building is dedicated to the history of the watch industry.

Musée d’horlogerie du Locle, Château de Monts

The Town Hall, built after the First World War, is a harmonious blend of different architectural styles, including neo-Renaissance, Art Nouveau, and local influences.

The architecture, frescoes and sculptures make it a work of total art, including the goddess guarding the source of living water in front of the building.

The sculpture was crafted in 1930 to remind the authorities of the importance of good governance.

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

Le Locle and its Watch industry

The Mural of Montcherand

The Romanesque church of Montcherand was built in the eleventh century and donated to the monastery of Baulmes.

Documents confirm the foundation of the monastery of Baulmes in the 7th century and its subordination to the Abbey of Cluny by no later than 1123.

The clergymen of Payerne and Baulmes shared the same prior in 1356. This prior was also Lord of Montcherand. The wall paintings of the church of Montcherand were repainted after the introduction of the Reformation in 1536.

A photograph of some original fragments in 1902 was the beginning of a complete restauration project. The church is a national monument nowadays.

The Romanesque church in Donatyre, a small village near Avenches, shows a copy of the fresco of Montcherand. This copy was painted in 1907.

(Source and further information: K. Queijo, L’église Saint-Etienne de Montcherand, Montcherand, 2018).

Les Cent Suisses

The History Museum of Vevey presents the city’s heritage and the region (Lavaux).
The museum is housed in a 16th-century castle.
There are two collections: a collection of ancient keys, locks and boxes and the works by the painter F.A.L. Dumoulin (1753-1834). Dumoulin witnessed the Franco-English naval battles in the West Indies (1775-1783). He painted these events.
The museum also dedicates a separate section to the Fête des Vignerons (Musée de la Confrérie des Vignerons, www.confreriedesvignerons.ch).
The Confrérie des Vignerons acquired the building in 1986 and maintains its headquarters on the first floor. Les Cent Suisses, the famous Hundred Swiss, have participated in the Fête since 1819, and in 2019, with women, les Suissesses.
(More information: www.museehistoriquevevey.ch).

Paper cutting in Château-d’Oex

The art of paper cutting is a tradition in Château-d’Oex in the Pays-d’Enhaut. The Musée du Vieux Pays-d’Enhaut showcases masterpieces and hosts events and exhibitions. Paper cutting was imported from the Orient.  Johann Jakob Hauswirth (1809-1871) and Louis Saugy (1871-1953) introduced this art. Several of their magnificent artworks are exhibited in the museum.

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

An ode to the Fête des Vignerons 2019

The Fête des Vignerons (a UNESCO World Heritage site) is a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation since the 18th century in the canton of Vaud, in a region stretching from Pully to Lavey near Valais.

Press conference the day after, l’abbé and Daniele Finzi Pasca (right) 

The twelfth edition took place from 18 July till 11 August 2019.

This collage gives an impression of this great festival, which attracts more than one million visitors, features a temporary stadium with around 20,000 seating places, employs five thousand volunteers, has a hundred professionals, and has been ten years in the making.

Chapeau Vevey, the organisation, the visitors and Switzerland.

Model of the stadion. Collection: Musée de la Confrérie des Vignerons

The Grandeur of Switzerland

What does  “the grandeur of Switzerland” mean?  The many Grand Hotels, the mountain landscape, the lakes,  the beautiful cities or (direct) democracy? All true, but the real treasure and grandeur of the country are its people and Swiss civil society.

From the late Middle Ages onwards, through a process spanning centuries, citizens created a well-functioning state comprising four languages, various religions, cultures, and economic regions.

The area that is now Switzerland has always been an integral part of the European trade system and of European political, cultural, and economic developments.

The Fête des Vignerons in Vevey symbolises the commitment of the citizens. This Fête is not an exception, but the rule. The Fête des Vignerons showcases the grandeur of the country and its centuries-old commitment from its citizens.

Cultural Monastery Altdorf

The Monastery of All Saints (Aller Heiligen) was founded in 1581 by the Capuchin Order. The monastery was the first settlement of the Capuchins north of the Alps in 1581, followed by the establishment of monasteries in the Catholic cantons of Unterwalden, Schwyz, Lucerne, Solothurn, and Appenzell, in response to the Reformation.

The Capuchins stayed in the monastery for more than four centuries. They left in 2009. The monastery is now a cultural centre, known as Kulturkloster Altdorf.

(Further information: https://kulturkloster.ch).