Author: Maarten Koning

Helvetia, the Rhine and Basel

The Rhine flows out of Switzerland at Basel. It continues its journey to the North Sea as a (border) river through Germany, France and the Netherlands. At Spijk and Millingen, it enters the Netherlands and is called the Waal. The Waal splits into several rivers, forming the famous Dutch river landscape.

File:Spiegelwaal.jpg

De Waal and Spiegelwaal at Nijmegen, Photo: Wikipedia/Damatrix

The Waal is the mainstream. Nijmegen is the first large (ancient Roman) city on its way. However, the Waal then splits into various other rivers. One part becomes the Upper Merwede and the New Maas near Rotterdam.

Nijmegen

The Oude Maas joins the Nieuwe Maas at Rotterdam to form the Nieuwe Waterweg, which flows into the North Sea. This complex of waterways is the basis of the port of Rotterdam and its economic activities.

Another part of the Waal, after joining the Bergsche Maas, flows into the Hollands Diep, the Haringvliet.

In addition to these two main streams, the Waal has other branches. After Millingen, the Waal splits into the IJssel and the Nederrijn. The IJssel bends to the north and ends in the IJsselmeer. 

On its way, it meanders through the forelands of Gelderland and Overijssel, passing beautiful medieval Hanseatic towns (among others, Zutphen, Deventer, Zwolle and Kampen). The Nederrijn is called the Lek halfway. It flows into the Nieuwe Maas and the North Sea.

The IJssel River. Photo: www.Hanzesteden.nl

The Nederrijn (known from a Bridge too Far, Arnhem, September 1944, Operation Market Garden) has a branch called the Kromme Rijn, Leidse Rijn and the Oude Rijn, which flows into the North Sea via Utrecht and Katwijk. The Amsterdam-Rhine Canal (dug in the mid-19th century) connects Amsterdam and the North Sea (via the North Sea Canal) with the Rhine.

The Scheldt-Rhine Canal connects cities like Dordrecht with the Westerschelde via the Hollands Diep, Volkerak, and Oosterschelde.

Helvetia has long been the image of Swiss coins. She got tired of it and went on a journey to get to know Switzerland. After a long journey through valleys, mountains, villages and cities, she reached Basel.

The Rhine near Augst (Canton Basel-Landschaft). Photo: TES

She decided to stay in Basel, thinking and musing about the Rhine and what lies in store for her on her journey. Helvetia has been sitting on the Mittlere brücke in Basel for over forty years. She may be musing on Hendrik Marsman’s (1899-1940) famous poem Thinking of Holland.

Bettina Eichin (1942) sculpted Helvetia in 1980. She called it Seated Helvetia (Sitzende Helvetia), a self-assured woman who thinks beyond borders and looks out into the world.

The artist wrote the following explanation:

“…eines Tages verlässt Helvetia ein Zweifrankenstück, mischt sich unters Volk und unternimmt eine längere Reise. Along the way, she also comes to Basel. Nach einem anstrengenden Gang durch die Stadt legt sie Mantel, Schild, Speer und Koffer ab und ruht sich auf einem Brückenpfeiler der Mittleren Rheinbrücke aus und blickt nachdenklich rheinabwärts”.

The Partnerships 360 Symposium

The Partnerships 360 Symposium, held at the Maison de la Paix in Geneva, will take place from July 11 to 13. It brings together allied and partner nations for a free exchange of ideas on the future evolution of NATO’s partnerships policy.

Switzerland is the first partner nation to be tasked with organising the Partnerships 360 Symposium. The annual symposium was first held in 2018, and Greece hosted it in 2019. Switzerland is now hosting the third event.

The symposium brings together civilian and military representatives from NATO members and partner nations. The purpose is to facilitate dialogue on the future evolution of NATO’s partnerships policy.

Switzerland has also been involved in NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) since 1996. The PfP provides an institutionalised framework for security policy dialogue with NATO, member countries, and partner nations, including several Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries.

(Source and further information: www.eda.admin.ch).

Joux Castle

The word “Joux” comes from the Latin “Iuria”, meaning “mountain forest”, and the Celtic word “Jor” for “wooded hill”. Jura or Joux, therefore, originally means a large forested area.

The Château de Joux is an emblematic monument of Franche-Comté (France). The castle is located 5 km from Pontarlier and 15 km from the Swiss border.

The castle is strategically located on La Cluse de Pontarlier, a narrow gorge that crosses the Jura massif. This military and commercial route connects the roads of Champagne, Flanders, and Haute-Saône with Italy and Switzerland.

From 1000, the Joux dynasty ruled the area and fortified the rocky hill with a first castle. Over the centuries, it was further rebuilt and extended.

In the 15th century, the mighty Duke of Burgundy, Philippe the Good (1396-1467), bought the castle from the descendants of the Joux dynasty. The Duke thus extended his rule over the border areas of the Duchy of Burgundy. It gave him access to the Cluse and a vital traffic artery to his wealthy regions in the Low Countries.

In the 16th century, the stronghold of Joux passed by inheritance and succession to the Spanish crown, which ruled over a vast territory, including the Franche-Comté, Spain, the Low Countries, and the Kingdom of Naples.

The castle of Joux became an essential defensive post at the edge of and against the French Kingdom, the Swiss Confederation and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.

The French king Louis XIV (1638-1715) conquered Franche-Comté in 1678, simultaneously with his (unsuccessful) invasion of the Republic of the United Netherlands in 1672. Sébastien Le Prestre, Lord of Vauban (1633-1707), a military engineer and master builder, reorganised and modified the defensive castles captured from the Spanish enemy.

The defence of the eastern border was based on the citadels of Belfort, Besançon, the fortresses of Salins and the castle of Joux. This eastern border was further reinforced at the end of the 19th century, after the French defeat in 1871 and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the castle was a prison. Famous political prisoners included Mirabeau (1749-1791) and Toussaint L’ouverture (1743-1803). Unlike the Bastille in Paris, the castle of Joux was not destroyed in the French Revolution of 1789. The castle was in a remote corner and too far away. The castle has been a museum since 1954.

(Source and further information:  Accueil – Chateau de Joux)

Choreographies on the Julier Pass

The dance season of the Nova Fundaziun Origen (Riom, Canton Graubünden) on the Julier Pass begins on 14 July. Luca-Andrea Tessarini will kick off this year’s series of new choreographies with his work “Venom”. One week later, French choreographer Sébastien Bertaud will show his “Laniakea”.

The Red Tower on the Julier Pass unites two great traditions of the dance world: the dancers of the Paris Opera stand for classical perfection and the Nederlands Dans Theater for contemporary avant-garde.

Tessarini explores the metaphorical meaning of poison, which clouds minds, deceives the senses, sows malice, destroys friendships, ignites wars – and sometimes, in the proper doses, can heal.

Performances from 14 to 17 July 2022, starting at 21:30.

French choreographer Sébastien Bertaud and the soloists of the Paris Opera devote themselves to the infinity of the universe, the complexity of being, the intoxication of the unfathomable and the cosmos as the source of life on earth.

Performances from 21 to 24 July 2022, starting at 21.30.

Source and further information: www.origen.ch

The Mundaneum and Geneva

What do Google, the Mundaneum and a new World City near Geneva have in common?

The Mundaneum

The story begins at the end of the nineteenth century in Belgium. Paul Otlet (1868-1944) and Henri La Fontaine (1854-1943) sought to establish a World Library encompassing all books, iconography, newspapers, magazines, and other written materials.

This library, Mundaneum, was founded in 1920. It was housed in the Parc du Cinquantenaire (Jubelpark) in Brussels and occupied one hundred rooms, covering many kilometres of paper.

This library still exists and is a universal bibliographic centre today. The Mundaneum was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013. The Mundaneum moved to Mons (Bergen) in 1998.

The Mundaneum is called the Internet of Paper and is the predecessor of Google. Google supports the project financially. 

Mundaneum in Mons. Photo: www,mundaneum.be

Geneva

The sculptor, painter, and urban planner Hendrik C. Anderson (1872-1940), and the architect, urban planner, and archaeologist Ernest Hébrard (1875-1933) developed a plan in 1913 to build a world city.

This city was the centre of international communication and dispute resolution for the sake of peace and prosperity. All people and countries were to be represented.

The founders of the Mundaneum supported the project. The Three Lakes region in Switzerland (the area of the lakes of Neuchâtel (Neuenburgersee), Biel (Bienne), Murten (Morat) and Brussels emerged as a location option.

Then came August 1, 1914, and the plan was off the table. However, after the end of the First World War (1914-1918), the League of Nations and its headquarters in Geneva gave new hope.

In 1927, Paul Otlet approached the architect Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, 1887-1965) to design a new plan for the city near Geneva. Then came the stock market crisis of 1929 and the subsequent economic and political crises and tensions.

Statues at the entry of the City. Collection Schlossmuseum Nidau. Photo: TES.

The world city never progressed beyond the design on paper. The entrance to the metropolis bears the hallmarks of the time’s style. The town, symmetrically built according to a strict grid pattern (as in La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel), featured a 320-metre tower that symbolised human progress.

However, it became a Tower of Babel due to the Second World War (1939-1945) and the Cold War. After 1945 and the death of the Mundaneum’s founders, the project for the metropolis was abandoned.

(Source: www.mundaneum.org/ Schlossmuseum Nidau: www.schlossmuseumnidau.ch).

The lakes, mountain lakes and reservoirs of Switzerland

Switzerland has hundreds of lakes, ranging from larger to smaller, as well as mountain lakes and reservoirs. The mountain lakes are often of breathtaking beauty, embedded in alpine meadows or steep mountain landscapes, with shimmering green, blue, or black water, hidden amidst spruce forests or situated on mountain slopes.

Lac Morat/Murtensee

The Lungerersee

It is impossible to judge Swiss mountain lakes solely on their beauty. However, the website provides a subjective list of the 50 most beautiful mountain lakes, indicating their location, canton and altitude. Hundreds of other mountain lakes are not included in this list.

The site also lists the fifty largest lakes. There are also surprises among the largest lakes in terms of surface area. For the ranking, only the surfaces of lakes in Switzerland are considered.

Lake Neuchâtel

Lake Lucerne

Lake Geneva

The site also features a list of the largest dams and reservoirs, including their surface area, height above sea level, maximum depth, type of lake, shoreline area, and country.

Lake Hallwil is located in the cantons of Aargau and Lucerne. The municipalities of Beinwil am See, Birrwil, Boniswil, Fahrwangen, Meisterschwanden, and Seengen, with Hallwyl Castle surrounding the lake on the Aargau side and Schwarzenbach, Mosen and Aesch on the side of Lucerne. The lake lies at an altitude of 449 metres above sea level in the so-called Seetal.

Lake Hallwilermeer is approximately 8.5 kilometres long and has a maximum width of 1.5 kilometres. The primary inflow into the lake is the Aabach stream from Lake Baldegger, which also leaves the lake in the north near Seengen.

(Source and further information: Alle Seen der Schweiz: schweizersee.ch).

The Church of Wintersingen

In the High Middle Ages, the parish church of Wintersingen (Canton of Basel-Landschaft) was owned by the canons of St Leonhard in Basel. An archaeological survey uncovered several graves and stone slabs, which, together with the last remains of the foundation, indicate the presence of a first church around 700 or at the beginning of the 8th century.

A papal bull of 8 May 1196 confirmed the ownership of the Leonhard monastery. However, the Bishop of Basel managed to get the patronage of Wintersingen. The Teutonic Order of Beuggen was the successor.

It was not until 1821 that the city of Basel became the owner. However, after the creation of the canton Basel-Landschaft, a split-off from Basel-Stadt, Wintersingen became an independent municipality.

The church has a choir, nave, and ossuary (Beinhaus). The church converted to Protestantism in the Reformation (1529). The huge clockwork of the church tower from 1552, the organ, the large and small bells (15th century), the ancient Greek epitaphs, the choir stalls (1676), the guéridon (1706), the communion table and the baptismal font (1642), the pulpit (1676), the stained glass (1639) and the many wall paintings and decorations are the artefacts on Wintersingen’s church hill.

(Bron: Daniel Anderegg, Die Kirche Wintersingen, Wintersingen, 2015)

Geneva’s Choice in 1815

On December 30, 1813, the Austrian general Count Ferdinand Bubna von Littiz (1768-1825) entered Geneva, ending fifteen years of French domination.

In 1798, the city enthusiastically welcomed the French revolutionary troops. After fifteen years of French annexation, French-speaking Geneva stood at a crucial crossroads in its two-thousand-year existence.

On January 1, 1814, the regents who had been in power since before 1798 proclaimed the independent republic of Geneva, and there was no turning back. Due to the major powers’ preference at the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) and despite resistance from some Catholic cantons, Geneva was admitted to the Swiss Confederation. Geneva became the twenty-second canton in 1815.

The superpowers ratified the agreement in international treaties in 1815 (Paris) and 1816 (Turin), and Switzerland gained its final borders, neutrality, and sovereignty.

Moreover, Geneva was Protestant, a heritage shared with other Swiss cantons. There was also a shared political and economic history with other Swiss cantons, for example, during the Burgundian Kingdom in the Middle Ages, and centuries of common enemies, such as the Dukes of Savoy; however, the city always maintained its political independence.

Geneva was never under French rule until 1798, and this experiment was not to be repeated. It was a good choice. Geneva escaped two world wars, French centralism and the euro. The canton is also embedded in a federal, multicultural, decentralised, and democratic welfare system.