Author: Maarten Koning

The secrets of the Wägital

An autumn hike along the shores of the Wägitalersee (canton Schwyz)  gives everything the Alpine landscape has to offer: mountains, forests, meadows, a lake, streams, a village, farms, cows, sheep and on this day (5 October)even beautiful weather.

In October 1847, 175 years ago, it was not idyllic in Wägital and its two villages Innerthal and Vorderthal, however. The canton mobilised men for the army of the Sonderbund. This successor to the Sarnerbund, dissolved in 1841, united the Catholic cantons of Zug, Lucerne, Freiburg, Valais, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden (Unterwalden) and Uri in 1845.

These conservative cantons wanted to keep their sovereignty and opposed the Protestant and liberal cantons. They were in favour of a strong federal government. The cantons St Gallen, Tessin and Solothurn also supported this constitutional concept, although they were predominantly Catholic. The Protestant cantons of Basel-Stadt and Neuchâtel and the Catholic Appenzell Innenrhoden remained neutral.

The liberal cantons had the majority in the Tagsatzung (the assembly of representatives of the cantons). They did not recognise the Sonderbund.
The armed conflict began with the (anti) climax of the battles at Gisikon and Meierskappel in November 1847. The Sonderbund lost this short (civil) war of 25 days. The winning cantons of the federation showed reconciliation and magnanimity, however.

The new Constitution of 1848 created a weak federal government, and then only after the consent of the cantons and citizens. They remained and are the sovereigns.
The cantons had equal voting rights in The Council of States (Ständerat/Conseil d´États) or Second Chamber. The Council of States had the same rights as the National Council (Nationalrat/Conseil fédéral). Both chambers could initiate federal laws or decisions, and both had to agree.

This concept gave the smaller and fewer Catholic-conservative cantons an acceptable (counter) voice in the federal system. Catholic education and the catholic church were given constitutional rights as well.

Innerthal

Life was quiet again in the Wägital after 1848. Until 1924. The village of Innerthal disappeared to make way for the reservoir created after the dam’s construction. The village and its church will be rebuilt higher up the hill.

The Swiss Alpine Club

The Swiss Alpine Club (Schweizer Alpen Club, SAC/Club Alpin Suisse, CAS) regularly organises hiking trips in this region (and elsewhere).

The SAC organises ski tours, mountaineering and other sports in the high mountains and the Alps and activities in other regions.

Source and further information: René Roca, Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, HLS

The Rhine in 38 exhibitions

The Museum Network (Netzwerk Museen/Réseau des musées)  presenta a cross-border exhibition series on the Rhine. Between autumn 2022 and spring 2023, the network organises 38 exhibitions around the theme “The Rhine”.

The exhibitions will take place in North and South Baden (Germany), in the departments of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin (France) and in Northwest Switzerland. They will shed light on the Rhine from various perspectives.

Nature, ecology and navigation on the Rhine will be addressed, as well as architecture, history, art, culture, religion, technology and the various national visions of this great river.

The Museum Network is an association of museums from France, Germany and Switzerland that works together on a project basis. Every four years, the network presents exhibitions on a common theme in the participating museums.

The network’s cross-border exhibitions highlight themes from different perspectives. Large and small museums are involved.

The network’s first exhibition series in 2014 was dedicated to the First World War, with more than 20 exhibitions. The Dreiländermuseum Lörrach coordinates the Museum Network.

The Paper Cutters of Pays-d’Enhaut

Louis Saugy (1871-1953) and Johann-Jakob Hauswirth (1809-1871) are Switserland’s or perhaps  Europe’s most secret master artists today. They invented the art of paper cutting (découpage in French, Scherenschnitt in German). It became a specialisation in the Pays-d’Enhaut region (canton de Vaud) and Château- d’Oex and Rougemont are its centres of excellence.

Louis Saugy lived in Rougemont and he cut out the life of Pays-d’Enhaut with its scissors. During his life time he was already a celebrity and a well known artist. Winston Churchill, the Royal Family of Spain, Field-marshal Alexander Montgomery and many other celebrities came to his house to see him cutting the paper

The Musée du Vieux Pays-d’Enhaut in Château-d’Oex shows many of his exceptional works. He cut everything, the abbey of Rougemont, chalets, people, shops, all kind of animals, mountains, trees, flowers, interiors of houses, cafés, restaurants and many other scenes of daily life.

His mother was a school mistress and drew beautifully. She taught him the basics of art. His father, was a farmer and butcher and would sometimes cut large paper silhouettes of animals and people in the evenings.

The MOB (the Montreux and the Bernese Oberland) railway connected Montreux and the Bernese Oberland and Rougemomt in 1905. The train replaced the Federal Postal Service stage-coach for delivering the wood chips used to make paper. It made his cutting live easier.  Many travellers and tourists began to arrive by train and they saw and bought his works and made him known across Europe.

The Louis Saugy trail in Rougement and the Musée du Vieux Pays-d’Enhaut show his life and work.

The sovereignty of Switzerland

The history of Switzerland’s sovereignty includes many dates, myths, and (historical and political) discussions. In the 15th century, the territory that is now Switzerland was still part of the Holy Roman Empire.

In the 19th century, this territory (except for Tarasp (1803), Rhäzuns (1819), and Neuchâtel (1857)), was a sovereign state in 1815. The period between the 16th and 18th centuries (until 1798, 1803, and 1815) is unclear.

The Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire covered 1530 territories, which today cover more than ten sovereign states (Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Austria, France (Lotharingen, Franche-Comté, (High) Savoy, Elzass), Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and territories in Croatia and Poland).

The Emperor

Spain, Hungary, Sicily, and Sardinia were linked in a personal union. The Habsburg dynasty delivered the emperors from 1438 to 1806. This Empire, its emperors, and the Pope also embodied the Latin Christianitas.

The Empire was formally a political and legal entity. The Imperial Chamber Court (Reichskammergericht in Worms, Speyer, and Wetzlar), the Court Council (Hofrat) in Vienna, and the Imperial Diet (Reichstag) were the highest courts and legislative bodies.

The territory had many ecclesiastical and secular regional and local rulers: bishoprics, abbeys, duchies, counties, kingdoms, principalities and imperial cities (Reichstädte).

The (different) local laws and customs were often decisive. Political or legal unity did not exist. Three factors are essential in this respect. The emperor’s monopoly on the use of force for peace and justice (relevant for the Swiss Confederation in 1415 (conquest of Aargau), 1460 (conquest of Thurgau) and 1474-1477, the Burgundian Wars, with imperial permission), secondly, the levy of taxes and thirdly, the prestige of the Empire.

The Eidgenossenschaft or Confederation

Switzerland did not exist at that time; instead, there were local alliances between cities and Orte, the predecessors of the cantons. The well-known partnership of the three Orte (cantons) around 1291 and subsequent alliances between other cities in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries mark the beginning of the state-building process.

Such alliances, such as the Alsatian Zehnstädtebund or Dekapolis, the Hanseatic League in Northern Europe, or the Swabian League in Southern Germany, were common at the time.

Switzerland’s most politically crucial alliance was between the imperial cities of Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Fribourg, and Solothurn, dating back to and after 1351. The outcome was the Confederation (Eidgenossenschaft) of thirteen towns/ Orte and their Untertanengebiete in 1513.

This Confederation existed until 1798 and survived all other alliances. What made the Confederation an exception and a particular case?

The imperial government of the Holy Roman Empire and powerful kingdoms (France, Spain, England, Poland-Lithuania, and Scandinavia ) were the dominant factors in the formation of the states between 1495 and 1648. The Empire was aware of many regional and local secular and ecclesiastical rulers in Switzerland.

The numerous imperial cities and their associated privileges are essential. Imperial cities were autonomous, highly privileged communities, such as Basel, Bern, Zurich, Fribourg, Lucerne, Zug, Schaffhausen, Rapperswil, Geneva, St. Gallen, Stein am Rhein and Solothurn.

This region had many other imperial cities (Besançon, Colmar, Strasbourg, Rottweil, Mulhouse, Augsburg, Konstanz, for example) and city federations (Dekapolis, Schwäbischer Bund, Eidgenossenschaft). More than 90% of all imperial cities were located in the southwestern quarter of the Empire.

The Orte/ cities of the Eidgenossenschaft and their subjected territories (Untertanengebiete) and allies (Zugewandte Orte) were seamlessly connected, in contrast to the Alsatian Zehnstädtebund and the Schwäbischer Bund.

Moreover, the Eidgenossenschaft and the mountain passes, rivers, and north-south connections formed a region for trade, passenger, and military transport.

Hence, Grisons or Graubünden (the Republic of the three leagues of the Gotteshausbund, Zehngerichtebund, Oberer/Grauer Bund, 1524) and the cantons Uri, Schwyz, Glarus, and Unterwalden showed interest in (military) cooperation with the cities.

These (commercial) interests were ultimately more important than the many religious (after 1525), political and territorial differences.

For example, the cantons in Central Switzerland were primarily interested in Italian territories, while Bern (along with Solothurn and Fribourg) was focused on the conquest of Western Switzerland and beyond.

Essential moments were the conquest of Aargau (1415), Thurgau (1460), the Burgundian wars (1474-1477), the Swabian war (or Swiss war, Engadin war or Tyrolean war, depending on the perspective, 1499), the conquest of Italian territories (1512), the expansion of the Eidgenossenschaft to 13 members in 1513, the conquest of Vaud by Bern and Fribourg (1536) and the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

However, these facts were not decisive for the creation of the sovereign federation. The 13 cantons of the Eidgenossenschaft remained sovereign until 1798, and the Confederation was not yet a new European state, although other countries regarded it and treated it as such.

1798-1848

The years 1798, 1815, and 1848 were decisive. However, the roots of sovereignty go back centuries, and 1291 (fact, myth, or mixture) is an appropriate symbol of sovereignty. The speculation that ‘matters could have gone differently’ is not relevant from a historical perspective.

(Source: B. Marquardt, Die alte Eidgenossenschaft und das Heilige Römische Reich (1350-1798). Staatsbildung, Souveränität und Sonderstatus am alteuropäischen Alpenrand, Zurich 2007).

Baroque. Age of Contrasts

The word ‘baroque’ has a different meaning today than two centuries ago. It now stands for theatrical or exaggerated behaviour, language or appearance. The term derives from the Italian ‘Barocco’ and refers to a pearl with irregularities.

The Italian origin was the Council of Trent (1545-1563). This council was the Catholic Church’s response, the Counter-Reformation, to the Reformation in Europe that began in 1517. One of the outcomes was a new presentation and liturgy of the Catholic Church. It became the Baroque, the period 1580-1780.

The Council of Trent, 1770, copie after an original from 1563. Collection: Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum 

The Baroque was not limited to the Catholic way of life; Protestant and secular culture, science, fashion, art and music also became ‘Baroque’. The French royal court of Louis XIV is a symbol of this culture. Not only Versailles but several city palaces in Paris bear witness. One example is the Hôtel Lambert. Because of an auction of the interior, the complete Baroque interior can be viewed online. It gives an impression of Baroque splendour.

Detail of tapestry by Charles le Brun (1619-1690), 1668, the meeting between the French King Louis  XIV, the Spanish King Philippe IV and the Spanish infante  (future wife of Louis). Collection: Mobilier national, Paris

The garden of Versailles was developed by André le Nôtre (1613-1700). Arrival of Louis XIV, 1686. Reproduction, Palace of Versailles and Trianon, akg-images/Jean-Claude Varga.

Closer to home, at the Landesmuseum Zürich, the exhibition (Barock. Zeitalter der Kontraste) put the Baroque into European and Swiss perspectives. The show is chronological and thematic. After the ‘baroque’ entrance with a model replica of the Laterna of the Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza chapel in Rome, there is an overview of Europe’s religious and political division using maps from the seventeenth century and digital screens.

It provides insight into the various religious and political powers and conflicts in Europe and European power struggles and trade in the New World, Africa and Asia. After all, it was the period of colonisation of other continents.

Limiting the religious divisions to mainstream Catholicism and Protestantism is an excellent choice. They determined the many (spiritual) wars, (colonial) trade and refugees and the rise of the Baroque in this period.

Other religions, such as Judaism or Anabaptism, did not play a significant role politically nor in the armed and economic conflicts between the superpowers. Although a formidable military power (the sieges of Vienna in 1529 and 1683, for example), Turkey played a limited cultural role in the development of the Baroque,  influencing it only sideways, as was shown in another exhibition. 

Baroque music instruments. Collection: Museum für Gestaltung  Zürich/Kunstgewerbesammlung/Zürcher Hochschule der Künste

French court fashion, seventeenth century. Collection: Sammlung: Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg

The title is also well chosen. The gold and glitter of the churches, the splendour of court life and the bourgeoisie, and the developments in science, arts, music, architecture and technical progress contrasted with the almost permanent wars and (trade) conflicts, diseases, hunger, cold (‘the little ice age’) and poverty for most of the population. The Thirty Years’ War and the flight of the Huguenots are the best-known c.q. Notorious examples.

Switzerland has a rich Baroque culture. Its citizens, ‘Zuckerbäcker’, politicians, scientists, merchants, mercenaries, immigrants and entrepreneurs were active in Europe and the colonies of European countries, adopting Baroque culture. Swiss artists and artisans also spread Baroque culture abroad; foreigners contributed to its development in Switzerland. It was a European world.

Carlo Maderno (1556-1629), Francesco Borromini (1599-1667), Domenico Fontana (1543-1607), Giovanni Viscardi (1645-1713), Enrico Zuccalli (1642-1724) and other architects and artists were particularly active in France, southern Germany, Austria (Voralberg) and Italy (Rome) and other places.

The main topics are being dealt with: the (global) role of the church, Jesuits and Capuchins in particular, church architecture and popular piety, Versailles and France as the standards of fashion, gardens, palaces, court life and residential culture, theatre, music and literature, science, pre-industrialisation (in Switzerland, among others, the silk, wool, watchmaking and (printed) textile industries, and the processing of spices, tea and coffee products), the role of Swiss citizens, mercenaries and immigrants in European colonies, the art collectors and their European networks.

Another exhibition in Switzerland currently highlights a specific subject of baroque culture.

Johann Baptist Cysat (1587-1657), 1619, world map of the presence of Jesuits and their martyrs.  Collection: Historisches Museum, Luzern

In short, it was a dynamic and contrasting period. Perhaps in two centuries, people will reflect on the present-day era similarly. The exhibition also clarifies that this period still influences today’s society and culture. The Baroque is not a thing of the past but a crucial stage in the development of today’s society.

(Source and further information: Landesmuseum in Zurich)

Pyramide of Tulips, Delft c. 1700. Collection Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Andrea Sacchi, Jan Miel, Filippo Gagliardi, painting of the  Il Gesù in Rome, the mother church of the Jesuits, 1640, celebration of one century Order of Jesuits. Collection: Nazionali d’Arte Antica di Roma. 

Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Agriculture in Schwarzbubenland

The meaning of ‘Schwarzbuben’ probably comes from the word ‘schwärzen’, meaning smuggling. Schwarzbubenland is the region north of Mount Passwang (1204 metres) in the canton of Solothurn. It consists of the districts of Dorneck and Thierstein. The main towns are Dornach and Breitenbach.

The Benedictine monastery of Beinwil moved in 1648 to Mariastein monastery, located a little further away. Some monks remained in the monastery, however, but since 1874 Beinwil had to do without monks as a result of the ‘Kulturkampf‘. The inhabitants of Solothurn had thus decided in a referendum.

The monastery complex has been housing a Byzantine Orthodox monastery since 2019: Holy Orthodox Monastery Johannes Kapodistria (Heilige Orthodoxe Kloster Johannes Kapodistria), headed by the abbot Archimandrit Dionysios. The monastery falls under the Patriarchate of Antioch.

In 1084, the year of the Great Schism, it was unthinkable for a Catholic monastery to be replaced by an Orthodox monastery. It symbolises the vitality of the Orthodox religion and their monasteries in parts of Europe. They fill the gap of the (almost) empty Catholic monasteries. The abbey has four monks and enjoys growing interest.

Not only monasteries (also in Mariastein and Dornach, among others), the pilgrimage site in Meltingen, churches, numerous chapels and a huge church in Seewen (Kirche St. German) found their place in this Catholic canton.

The fertile soil guarantees good conditions for arable farming and rich harvests of a diversity of fruits and vegetables. The Lüssel valley is a good example.

Even after months without rain, the valley is still a green oasis. The residents of Erschwil highlighted their gratitude for the harvest in the Kirche St. Peter und Paul. In doing so, they express that ‘daily food’ is not to be taken for granted. This is not a religious expression, but respect for nature and the farmer.

The village lies in a valley on the small river Lüssel in the medium-high Jura Mountains with its many rock formations, gorges, valleys, meadows, forests, streams and rivers. The village was first mentioned in a document in 1147 under the name Hergiswilre.

The Beinwil monastery exercised spiritual power and owned land in the village. The Counts von Thierstein were secular rulers. Solothurn acquired the village in 1522. After an initial conversion to the Protestant faith, the village had a Catholic church again in the 17th century.

Erschwil is not only a good starting or ending point for hikes. It is also close to the towns of Zwingen, Dornach and Laufen and other beautiful places, including Gempen, and Rodersdorf, on the borders of Basel-Landschaft and France.

(Source and further information: www.schwarzbubenland.info)

Aubonne and the Castle

The name Aubonne is derived from the Celtic word Albunna, meaning “white water”, because of the river’s wild character. The source of the Aubonne rises in the Jura mountains of the Monts de Bière.

The village’s history is linked to the castle. At the beginning of the 12th century, the region’s inhabitants sought protection at the foot of the castle. The castle was the residence of the Sires of Aubonne.

In 1234, a charter with the title “Franchises d’Aubonne” laid down the rights and duties of the lord and inhabitants of the town.

The Lords of Aubonne, the House of Savoy, the Lords of Grandson and the Count of Gruyère lived in the castle from the 12th to the 17th century. They rebuilt the original simple tower into a citadel and fortified castle.

The people of Aubonne lived without war for centuries, which may be called exceptional. Agriculture, viticulture and crafts sustained trade and the standard of living.

The arrival of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605-1689), the diamond dealer of the King of France (Louis XIV) and great traveller, and Henri, Marquis Duquesne (1652-1722), eldest son of Louis XIV’s admiral, transformed the village into a dynamic centre. The famous round tower is a souvenir of Tavernier’s travels in the Orient. Duquesne built the courtyard with arcades.

These two Huguenots, exiles from France, turned the Château d’Aubonne into a comfortable and noble residence. From 1701, Aubonne became the seat of the bailiff of Bern until the French invasion in 1798. Protestant Bern had conquered Vaud in 1536.

Today, the castle on the hill is a beautiful complex overlooking the town with its picturesque streets.

The church is also an interesting monument. In the Middle Ages, the parish church stood in Trévelin, a kilometre away. However, Aubonne demolished the abandoned Catholic church in Trévelin in 1577 and used the materials to build the Protestant church (le temple) and its Gothic choir and wooden ceiling in the nave.

Source and further information: Commune d’Aubonne

The Saint-Gervais of Geneva

The history of Saint-Gervais is related to the ancient presence of the first bridges over the Rhone, built in Roman times. This strategic place, mentioned by Caesar in 58 BC in his de Bello Gallico, remained a crucial crossing point for travel from (southern) France to the Swiss plateau and beyond until the 18th century.

Geneva was already inhabited around 4000 BC, and this Neolithic settlement is Geneva’s oldest trace of human presence.

Celtic Tombs and a Gallo-Roman sanctuary testify to an uninterrupted religious purpose. In the 11th and 12th centuries, this church became the centre of a parish, stretching across the Saint-Gervais district on the right and left banks of present-day Geneva.

The church was rebuilt entirely (except for the crypt) between 1430 and 1446. The church was richly decorated with frescoes, the most important of which has been preserved despite the Reformation in 1536.

The Gothic-style church was rebuilt twice in 1547 to adapt it to the requirements of the Protestant liturgy and again at the beginning of the 20th century to restore its medieval appearance.

On 10 August 1535, Geneva abolished the Catholic mass. Nine months later, the Reformation was confirmed, and l’église’ became ‘le temple’ and a service ‘le culte.

In the Saint-Gervais, the change of confession led to the removing the altars, relics and sacred images and the repainting of the frescos.

(Source and further information: Le temple Saint-Gervais)

The City and Canton of Geneva

For centuries, French-speaking Geneva has been a haven for refugees, aristocrats and royal visitors, bankers, watchmakers, chocolatiers, and (religious) reformers.
The city is not only the global centre of Calvinism, but since the nineteenth century, it has also been the world capital of multilateralism, arbitration, diplomacy, international aid and international organisations.

Collège Calvin

Today, the city is home to more than 700 international organisations, diplomatic missions and NGOs. The United Nations, the World Trade Organisation and the Red Cross are the best-known examples. More than 50,000 people are employed in this sector. The city hosts 3,230 international conferences every year.

Maison de la Paix

However, Geneva (over 200,000 citizens) is more than a multilateral and cosmopolitan city. It is the capital of one of the 26 cantons of the Swiss Confederation.

Moreover, it is not just any canton, but a canton with only one mountain, the 516-metre Arales east of the canton. Mountains on all sides surround the canton, and even Mont Blanc is visible, but they are in France. Only Canton Basel-Stadt has just one mountain, the Chrischona, 522 metres high.

Canton Basel-Stadt has only three municipalities (Basel, Riehen, and Bettingen) and is a canton without a significant countryside, rather an urban canton. On the other hand, Geneva Canton (over 500,000 inhabitants) has more than 50 communes with rural areas and villages, the unknown side of Geneva.

Cologne-Bellerive was governed until 1536 by the Dukes of Savoie, the Lords of Vaud. Bern occupied Cologne in 1536 and imposed Protestantism. However, Collonge became Catholic again in 1598 and joined the Protestant canton of Geneva in 1815-1816.

Le village de Cologny au bord du lac

The church of Collonge-Bellerive

Collonge, like the other Catholic villages in the canton, experienced the ‘Kulturkampf’. This movement originated in Germany and advocated control of the Catholic Church by the Protestant state. Geneva confiscated the churches in 1872.

The Catholics of Collonge retreated to a temporary chapel in the buildings of Rivollet’s farm (now the Municipal Centre), which became the “Chapel of Persecution”. They were able to practice their religion in the church again in 1894.

These villages are not only on the shores of Lake Geneva but also inland. Genevois Jean-Jacques Rousseau developed his passion for nature in this rural region.

Despite its small size, the canton of Geneva is Switzerland’s third-largest wine-producing canton! The first botanical garden was created in 1793. To showcase the canton’s winemaking tradition, a vineyard was created in 2019 on the site of the first botanical garden, in the heart of the city. This municipal vineyard serves as a reminder of Geneva’s urban-rural connection.

It characterises Switzerland that the countryside is never far from an urban centre. Even the world’s multilateral capital is surrounded by them, not to mention Lake Geneva and the beautiful parks in the city of Geneva.

(Source and information: Canton et République de Genève)