Author: Maarten Koning

Octophonia and the Habsburg Dynasty

At this special place in Ottmarsheim in Alsace, 20 kilometres from Basel, the abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul was founded by the direct ancestors of the Habsburg dynasty. Ottmarsheim Abbey was founded in 1030 by Rudolf of Altenburg. His brother Radbot of Altenburg founded the monastery of Muri (in today’s Canton of Aargau) in 1028.

The Habsburg dynasty had its roots in Alsace and settled in the eleventh and twelfth centuries on present-day Swiss territory. The mighty Murbach Abbey, founded in the eighth century in Alsace, was also a stronghold of the Habsburg dynasty.

The Murbach Abbey church

The village of Habsburg (canton of Aargau) is named after the castle of the same name, the Habichsburg, also known as the Hawk’s Castle, dating back to the twelfth century.

Archdukes Hertha Margarete and Sandor Habsburg Lorraine placed the flame of peace in the abbey on 15 June 2019 at the European Festival of Song and Light Octophonia. The world grows and is connected through music, while many other events and human creations divide it. That is the message of Octophonia.

Octophonia is derived from the octagonal interior of the abbey church from the first half of the 11th century, an imitation of Charlemagne’s Palatine Chapel in Aachen.

The Ottmarsheim abbey and church

The Forgotten Ice Industry of Le Pont

In 1879, on Lake Brenet (Lac Brenet) in the Vallée de Joux (canton of Vaud), artificial ice cellars, or huge sheds measuring 14,000 m³ for 5,000 tonnes of ice, were built. From then until 1942, the ice from the lake was stored in large quantities every winter for sale in Swiss and French cities during the summer. They used ice to preserve food and to cool drinks.

The ice was transported to breweries and other restaurants in Paris, Lyon, Dijon and even to the south of France, especially during summer. The war and the subsequent decline in lake levels by several metres in 1942 effectively ended this industry long before the refrigerator boom of the 1950s.

The ice was transported by horse to Vallorbe, then Croy, and loaded onto wagons. In 1886 it was transported by train when the Pont-Vallorbe railway line was completed. The village of Le Pont was one of the largest ice factories in Europe and the centre of the Swiss ice industry, with an almost forgotten history.

The number of employees was impressive. Over 130 people worked on the ice and in the large shed in January and February. Chunks of ice were sawn out of the lake and stored in the shed.

The Hotel de la Truite in Le Pont is the oldest establishment in the valley, dating back to at least 1662. One of its most famous tenants was Edgar Rochat (1845-1929), the initiator of the ice industry in Le Pont.

(Source and Pictures: La Région. Le journal de Nord Vaudois du 25 février 2015; Rémy Rochat, Edgar Rochat & Cie au Pont, Vallée de Joux, Le Pèlerin, 1999).

Romansh Poetry in Neo-Latin Languages

The festival (Neolatine. LitteraturA Nairs) for Romansh literature in Scuol is a podium for authors, readings, lectures, talks, music and experiments.

The festival’s third edition focuses on contemporary poetry and its translation into other languages. Poetry is currently the most published genre in Romansh literature.

Romansh poets will meet authors with Neo-Latin languages: Dolomite Ladin, Portuguese, French, Italian, Galician and Catalan. The programme is multilingual.

(Source and further information: Fundaziun Nairs, Scuol)

New Romansh Uniun in Basel

The federal government supports the cantons of Graubünden and Ticino in preserving and promoting the Romansh and Italian languages and cultures.

Of the approximately 60,000 Romansh-speaking people, about 40% live outside the language area. Preserving and passing on the language and culture is a significant challenge for those in this ‘diaspora’.

The Federal Office of Culture (Der Bundesamt für Kultur, BAK) also promotes the Romansh language and culture outside the Romansh language area. In cooperation with Lia Rumantscha, the BAK supports projects that promote learning and preserve the Romansh language and culture outside of Graubünden.

One successful project is the founding of Romansh associations and organisations outside Graubünden. Today there are such uniuns/cumünanzas: in Winterthur, Zurich, St. Gallen/Appenzell, Berne and Lucerne. On 18 March, a new uniun/cumünanza Rumantscha will be founded in Basel. The aim is to be present in the larger Swiss cities within a few years.

And perhaps the leap into the French-speaking part of Switzerland will follow soon!

(Quelle und weitere Informationen: Lia Rumantscha and  www.bak.admin.ch)

Multilingual Switzerland

“Les langues ne sont pas neutres. Elles incarnent des cultures, elles imprègnent les mentalités, elles engendrent des affinités, elles aiguillonnent des susceptibilités, elles expriment des sensibilités, elles traduisent des manières de raisonner, de penser, de vivre et elles influencent et déterminent même la conception que les citoyens ont du rôle de l’État par rapport aux individus et à la société”. (José Ribeaud, La Suisse plurilingue se délingue. Plaidoyer pour les quatre langues nationales suisses, Neuchâtel, 2002).

Four national languages

Switzerland is the only European country with four national languages: Italian, German, French and Romansh.

Switzerland occupies a unique position on a small territory (approximately 41,000 square kilometres) within the European labyrinth of languages and cultures.

More than 5 million German speakers (and their many dialects, including Schwyzertütsch, which is mostly the vernacular), 1.5 million French speakers in the Romandie and the bilingual cantons of Wallis, Bern, and Freiburg, 350,000 Italian speakers in Tessin and Graubünden, and around 60,000 Romansh speakers in Graubünden.

Additionally, there is a large number of foreigners who speak languages other than English. The four languages are recognised as official languages in the Constitution of 1848  and 1938 in the case of Romansh.

Federal level

Civil servants and members of the parliament at the federal level speak at least two languages, German and French and/or Italian (or Romansh).

The 200 members of the National Council (Nationalrat) debate in their own or one of the other languages, often without using the available simultaneous interpreters.

The Senate (Ständerat) does not use interpreters. The 46 members use the languages of their cantons or one of the other languages.

The parliamentary documents appear mainly in German and/or French. Improvements are possible, but multilingualism generally functions well at the federal level.

English sometimes becomes a universal language. Fewer and fewer young people are proficient in their country’s other languages.

The (limited) student exchange occurs mainly between French and German-speaking Switzerland and hardly with Italian-speaking, let alone Romansh-speaking areas.

Cantons

There are also discussions in the cantons about the education and teaching of languages. Is English more important than French/German in German-speaking or French-speaking cantons?

That also applies to regions in Graubünden, where Romansh or Italian is the first language. German is always obligatory as a second language, but what about French or English?

Conclusion

Even in multilingual Switzerland, harmonious coexistence and integration are not self-evident. The constitutional, pedagogical, and local structures and mentality require ongoing attention.

Suchard and Neuchâtel

For 164 years, the scent of cocoa could be smelled in the Serrières valley (commune of Neuchâtel). The book (in French) is an invitation to (re)discover the history of the famous Neuchâtel chocolate factory and explore the Serrières valley.

It is the colour purple and the Milka cow that the eye associates with a bar of milk chocolate, as advertisers at the beginning of the 20th century succeeded in establishing this brand to the public.

From the small family business to the multinational, the existence of the chocolate factory is punctuated by ups and downs, visionary strategies and missed opportunities. Still, it constitutes a piece of the industrial history of the utmost importance, which has created the worldwide reputation of Neuchâtel in the same way as the watchmaking industry.

Since 1989, chocolate is no longer produced in Serrières and in 1996, Suchard left the site for good. Today, Suchard remains a name, a brand, products, a rich archive and an important industrial site.

(Claire Piquet, Un parfum de chocolat, sur les traces de Suchard à Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, 2022).

Basel Infinity Festival

The Basel Infinity Festival combines classical music with literature, folk music and dance. The festival draws from baroque, classical and romantic to contemporary music.

Binningen, Schlosskeller, Katarina Leskovar (Cello), Nejc Grm (Accordeon)

The festival’s fourth edition started in February 2023 with a small tour in Canton-Basel-Landschaft. On 8 February, the renovated and recently opened Schlosskeller in Binningen featured music from Hungary to South America, a journey through the worlds of tango and rhapsodies with cello and accordion. Other concerts and workshops took place in Dornach and Liestal. Two more concerts will take place in Allschwil on 18 and 22 March.

As the name suggests, Basel is the festival’s main venue. From seven March to five April, there are numerous concerts.

The Männerstimmen in the Pauluskirche. Foto: Basel Infinity Festival

Infinity Basel starts with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s (1749-1832) famous verses from “Walpurgisnacht”, a scene from Goethe’s Faust. They inspired 16-year-old Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847) to compose his light-hearted and euphoric String Octet opus 20 in 1825. The string octet by Romanian George Enescu (1881-1955) is a good complement. At 19, he composed his Octet opus 7 in late 1900, which fascinates by its pulsating rhythms and dark sounds.

Alain Claude Sulzer (Text), Anna Gagane (Klarinette), Sherniyaz Mussakhan (Violine) and Denis Linnik (Piano), 17 March, Jazzcampus Club Basel

(Source and further information: Basel Infinity Festival)