Author: Maarten Koning

Champvent Castle

The village Champvent (canton of Vaud) was first mentioned in 1011 during the reign of Rudolph III (970-1032), the last king of the Burgundian Kingdom (888-1032). The castle is a typical ‘Carré Savoyard’, a quadrangular structure with high walls, flanked by round towers at each corner, and built in the thirteenth century. Similar castles still exist in Yverdon-les-Bains, Grandson and Morges.

The Lords of Champvent and Grandson and the Counts of Neuchâtel were among the owners. A local family was the owner at the time of the Burgundian wars (1474-1477) and an ally of the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold.

The castle was destroyed by confederal troops in 1476, but it was soon restored afterwards. The castle is now a national heritage site.

(Source: C. Dey, Champvent. L’histoire de ses 1 000 ans, Morges, 2011).

Ballet on the Julierpass

In July and August, the Julierturm in Riom (Grisons) hosts world premieres of contemporary dance. On the stage are soloists from the Vienna and Munich State Ballets, the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg and the Opéra Garnier in Paris. The festival presents six new performances: Zeitraum by Eno Peci, Inferno by Luca-Andrea Tessarini and Thiago Bordin, Utopia by Sébastien Bertaud, Eden by Dustin Klein, Ex Horto Eden by Beate Vollack, and House of Memories by Llia Jivoy.

(Further information and tickets: http://www.origen.ch).

Britons, cutting paper and Espace Ballon

In the last quarter of the 19th century, Château-d’Oex (canton Valais) became increasingly popular.  Many British tourists visited the region.

The infrastructure improved, and many hotels, inns, restaurants, pensions, and other facilities opened. Some still exist (for example, the Hôtel de l’Ours, the Hôtel de Ville, the Résidence Rosat, and the Clos des Abeilles at Villa d’Oex).

The arrival of the Montreux-Oberland Bernois railway in 1904 made the whole region of Pays-d’Enhaut more accessible.

The Anglican Church was built in 1899 and had already expanded by 1911. The village was a popular destination just before the outbreak of World War I.

The village is the hot-air-balloon capital. The Espace Ballon shows its history and present-day possibilities. The Breitling Orbiter capsule, used in the first attempt to circumnavigate the globe, is also on display. The annual international balloon festival takes place in January.

Château-d’Oex is also a village known for paper cutting. The Musée du Pays-d’Enhaut has a magnificent collection of paper cuttings and also presents local history and art.

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

Swiss Grottos

Switzerland has half of the 4,000+ peaks of the Alps. Far less known is the fascinating underground world, however.

There are many sites in the country; twelve sites are presented in this overview. Most caves are located in the cantons of Jura, Vaud, Valais, and three in Schwyz, Zug and St. Gallen.

The grottos are sometimes museums as well, including underground mills, a prehistoric park,  the museum of Speleology and museums about the salt, mining, and asphalt industry.

The Grottos of Réclère, located near Porrentruy (canton of Jura), showcase what nature has created over thousands of years, among other things. Kilometres-long stalagmites and stalactites.

The Prehistoric-Parc is a 2 km long path that presents the evolution of life, from the first fish to dinosaurs and comparatively recent mammals (Further information: www.prehisto.ch).

The underground mills of Col-des-Roches au Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel present unique underground water mills (Further information: www.lesmoulins.ch).

The Asphalt Mines of La Presta in Travers, Canton of Neuchâtel, tell the story of nearly 300 years (1712-1986) of natural asphalt mining.

The total length of the caves exceeds 100 km. In the restaurant, one can enjoy ham cooked in hot asphalt. Further information: (www.mines-asphalte.ch).

The Grottes of Vallorbe present the underground river Orbe.

The river leaves Lakes Joux and Brenet, in the canton of Vaud, and then goes underground at an altitude of 1,000 m; 200 m further down, it emerges again. (Further information: www.grottesdevallorbe.ch).

The Bex Salt Mines in the canton of Vaud are a vast underground labyrinth, several kilometres of which are open to visitors.

The path showcases the most spectacular and characteristic elements of various excavation techniques from 1684 to modern times.

(Further information: www.seldesalpes.ch).

Just above St-Maurice, canton of Valais, the Fairy’s Cave (Grotte aux Fées) dominates the Rhone Valley.

After a kilometre of educational path in a well-lit gallery, the underground visit reaches its peak, a little lake fed by an impressive waterfall. (Further information: www.grotteauxfees.ch).

The underground lake St. Léonard is located along the Rhone valley, between Sion and Sierre in Valais. With a length of approximately 300 meters, this is the largest natural underground lake in Europe, accessible for exploration by boat.

(Further information: www.lac-souterrain.com).

The Museum of Speleology, in Chamoson, in the Valais, presents all facets of modern speleology and the secrets of the seventh (underground) continent. (Further information: www.museespeleo.ch).

The La Lée mountain above Zinal (Valais) is a copper mine. At an altitude of 1937 m, it contains 500 metres of galleries hollowed out by human activity. (Further information: www.valdanniviers.ch).

The 6,000-year-old Höllgrotten (Hell Grottos) near Baar, Canton of Zug, are showcased through a cave walk that runs from top to bottom, exploring the full array of shapes and colours in the rock formations. Small lakes, stalagmites and stalactites give each cave its character. (Further information: www.hoellgrotten.ch).

With a length of more than 200 km, Hölloch (Hells Hole) in the canton of Schwyz is the longest cavity in Europe and one of the largest in the world, showcasing the strength of water that has been built up underground over nearly half a million years. (Further information: (www.trekking.ch).

The Crystal Cave (Kristallhöhle Kobelwald) above the village of Kobelwald (canton of St. Gallen) shows the splendid world of crystals and streams.

(Further information: www.kristalle.ch).

Watch-making and City-planning in Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds

The unique grid planning of Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds (canton Neuchâtel) emerged in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and was based on the watch-making industry.

Both cities were destroyed by fires (in 1794 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, 1833 and 1844 in Le Locle). Their reconstruction was based on a consensus of private and public interests, aiming to balance hygiene, social needs, and production efficiency in the watch-making industry. Both cities are UNESCO World Heritage sites.

(Source and further information: http://urbanisme-horloger.ch)

Impressions from La Chaux-de-Fonds

One of the biggest synagogues in Switzerland

Fête des Vignerons, short History of a Great Festival

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

Le Ranz des vaches. Picture: Musée de la Confrérie des Vignerons

Vevey’s income in the eighteenth century primarily came from wine production and trade. Vineyards surrounded the city, and the rhythm of the seasons and the wine calendar determined city life.

The Confrérie des Vignerons (the Brotherhood of Winegrowers) called itself  ‘Abbaye de l’agriculture’. The Brotherhood organised an annual parade. It was a cheerful parade of the winegrowers and their employees.

The parade ended at the General Assembly of the Brotherhood’s Council (le Conseil), where their work was commented upon.

The Brotherhood decided in 1780 to reward the best winegrowers and their workers.

They marched in front of the parade, accompanied by the Abbé-Président (the ‘Ab-President’), the members of the Council (le Conseil), and a large number of musicians, singers, and costumed figures who symbolised mythical figures and viticulture.

The quality of the parades and the number of spectators increased, and in 1797, a platform was established on the city’s Market Square.

The Fête des Vignerons was born. The book Helvétie 1800-1819 (Paris 2010) by Maurice Denuzière gives a good picture of this period in Vevey and Vaud.

The Napoleonic period, the creation of the canton of Vaud, and the political and economic difficulties that followed did not halt the festival’s development after 1813. A new festival was organised in 1819.

The parade became a real show. The 1865 arena hosted 10,000 spectators, and the quality of music, theatre, choreography, and costumes constantly improved.

More than 200 years after its initial construction, the present-day stadium features 16,000 seats and can accommodate up to 5,000 actors and 1,000 musicians.

(Source and further information: Musée de la Confrérie des Vignerons; G. Favrod, S. Carruzzo, Du cep à l’arène, petite histoire d’une grande Fête’ , dans Fête des Vignerons 2019. Une Envie de Fête, No. 1, Vevey, 2018; www.fdv2019.ch).

The Temple of Bevaix

The temple of Bevaix (Le Temple de Bevaix) was built in 1605 and 1606.

The remains of the ancient Benedictine abbey of Bevaix, which was built in 998,  were used as building materials. The monastery had fallen into disrepair after the Reformation around 1530.

The Romanesque vaults and some windows of the tower and other parts were used. The Protestant Church of Bevaix exhibits Catholic features. The abbey got a second life.

The St. Alban Church

Fishermen, boatmen and traders already inhabited the valley near Basel before the arrival of the Romans. The Romans introduced the water mills. The first church dates from the fifth century, when Basel was the bishop’s residence.

Burkhard von Hasenburg (1040-1107), bishop of Basel, founded the monastery of St. Alban in 1083. The powerful abbey of Cluny administered the monastery.

The monastery was rebuilt in 1304 in the Gothic style, but in 1356 (earthquake) and 1417 (fire), the monastery was destroyed. The church remained intact, however. The canton approved the restoration of the church in 1845.

(Source: A. Meyer, Ursprung und Geschichte von St. Alban in Basel, Landquart, 1975).

The four Barraud Brothers

The four Barraud brothers are among Switzerland’s best-kept art secrets. They were born in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

François (1899-1934), Aimé (1902-1954), Charles (1897-1997) and Aurèle (1903-1969) are four talented painters from one family. They show more quality and variety in modern Swiss art than Giacometti’s and Ferdinand Hodler’s.

Their paintings are important works of European realism in the Interbellum (the 1920s and 1930s).

The museum MORE in Gorssel, The Netherlands, shows many of their paintings in the exhibition The Barraud Brothers.

(Source and further information: www.museummore.nl).

Swiss Historic Hotels

The growth of tourism in the second half of the nineteenth century led to the construction of many Grand Hotels in Graubünden, Berner Oberland, Valais, Vaud, Bern, Neuchâtel, Geneva, Zurich and Schwyz.

Winter and summer sports, bathing venues and health resorts were the main focus of tourists from the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, the Habsburg Empire, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United States.  Les Trois Rois in Basel is one of the oldest Grand Hotels.

(Source: U. Bauer, J. Frischknecht, Unterwegs zu historischen Hotels der Schweiz, Winterthur, 2013).