Author: Maarten Koning

The Freedom of the Swiss

The history of the Freedom of the Swiss by Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) was published in the German language under the title Die Freiheit der Schweizer, two hundred years after its French publication, Introduction à l’histoire Générale de la République des Suisses, in 1815.

Gibbon is considered the father of modern historiography and is one of the most renowned English historians. His best-known work is The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Gibbon lived in Lausanne for five years (1751-1756). He was fascinated by Switzerland, the Confederation of thirteen sovereign cantons and their political systems.

He wrote in French. His first publication was called Journal de mon voyage dans quelques endroits de la Suisse. The Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) ended Gibbon’s stay in Lausanne.

After the war ended, he went on a trip to Italy. He travelled via Paris and Lausanne, where he stayed for another year.

He continued his trip to Rome in the company of the Englishman Willem Guise (1737-1783). He decided in Rome to write The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. The last part of this six-volume story was published in 1788.

Back in England, he wrote l’ introduction à l’histoire Générale de la République des Suisses.

It took two hundred years to publish the German edition.

(Edward Gibbon, Die Freiheit der Schweizer, Zurich 2015).

The Alemannic Language

The Alemannic Language refers to (German) dialects in the south of the German-speaking region. The area of Lake Constance has never been a linguistic unity (except for the present-day German language and the Latin Language in the Roman period).

A distinction is made between Schwäbisch (north of Tuttingen and Immenstadt in Baden-Württemberg), Oberrheinalemannisch (Alsace and Basel), Bodenseealemannisch (German and Austrian Lake Constance region), Hochalemannisch (parts of Bern and Graubünden, Schaffhausen, Thurgau, Glarus, Aargau, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Zurich, Zug and St. Gallen) and Höchstalemannisch (Schwyz, Uri, Obwalden, Nidwalden, partly Bern, Wallis, Lucerne and a part of Graubünden).

The Alemanni encountered a Gallo-Roman-speaking population on the Swiss side of Lake Constance in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries when they started their waves of immigration or invasions.

Unlike the Burgundians, a German tribe in Western Switzerland (they founded two Burgundian kingdoms, in 443-534 and in 888-1032). They spoke the local French dialect within a few generations.

The Alemanni kept their German language and Germanised Central and East Switzerland, except for Romansh-speaking regions in Graubünden.

(Source: U. Leuzinger (Red.), Römer, Alamannen, Christen, Thurgau, 2013).

The Arboretum de Vallon et Aubonne

An arboretum is a natural area dedicated to preserving, educating, caring for, and observing the forest and its trees and shrubs in all their diversity. It is also used for research and has the same recreational function as a forest. It is like a botanical garden in its natural setting.

The Arboretum of Vallon near Aubonne (Canton Vaud) is home to around 3000 trees and shrubs from all continents. The park is named after the Aubonne River, which rises at the foot of the Jura Mountains. The Toleure and the Sandoleyre are the two tributaries of the Aubonne.

The park runs from the north (Jura) to the south (Lake Geneva). The area around Lake Geneva is favourable for vegetation because of the many hours of sunshine. In addition to the collections of shrubs and trees, the arboretum also includes a pomological section.

The Wood Museum (Le Musée du Bois) showcases old tools, crafts, and woodworking techniques in all their diversity.

The town of Aubonne has a medieval centre with a beautiful view of Lake Geneva.

(Source and more information: Le Musée du bois – L’Arboretum du Vallon de l’Aubonne).

New Performances of the ADN

The ADN (Association Danse Neuchâtel) presents two new performances at the Temple Allemand in La Chaux-de-Fonds (canton of Neuchâtel) on Saturday, 25 and Sunday, 26 June, at 6 pm.

The programme includes two creations by Clara Delorme. Malgrés is a playful piece with the theme “Music and the Body”. It tells about the contradictions of fate and invites us to enjoy minor failures in life.

L’albâtre is a solo performance by Clara Delorme. She evolves with the nudity of her body, but with glasses as the only garment!

In 2019, Clara Delorme created L’albâtre during the Quarts d’Heure de Sévelin, a piece selected for the Swiss Dance Days 2021.

She won the PREMIO prize and the SSA grant with Malgrés in 2020. She participates in the “Choreographing” programme of the Arts Council Pro Helvetia (Fondation pour la culture Pro Helvetia) and the “Double” programme of the Migros Culture Pour-cent Culturel Migros.

Further information: www.danse-neuchatel.ch/2022/malgres-l-albatre

The English Garden of Neuchâtel

In 1765, Pierre Alexandre DuPeyrou (1729-1794) received permission from the city council of Neuchâtel to build a public promenade behind his orangery and the DuPeyrou palace, which was still under construction at that time. The passage was located on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel.

Neuchâtel was a principality from 1504 to 1813. The Prussian king was the prince of the former county from 1707 onwards. The city palaces and the centre still bear witness to the royal grandeur.

DuPeyrou was a wealthy former plantation owner in the Dutch colony of Surinam. He finalised the construction of the DuPeyrou palace in 1771. The promenade completed the aristocratic impression. The art and history museum (Musée d’art et d’histoire) and the historical galleries (Galeries de l’histoire) at the DuPeyrou Palace deal with this history.

In 1865, the promenade was adapted to modern taste and lost most of its poplars. The passage was redesigned as an English Garden, the Jardin Anglais, perhaps in imitation of the prestigious English Garden of Arlesheim (Canton of Basel-Landschaft).

After the first correction of the waters of the Jura (1868-1891, see Swiss Spectator, Swiss Water Management, 22 April 2022), the lake had sunk three metres. From then on, the English Garden was located a few hundred metres from the shore.

A new district (Quartier des Beaux-Arts) filled up the space with the art and history museum, residential houses, and public buildings. From 1888, the park gained several new attractions, including the Grande Salle, which is now the casino, and restaurants.

The park and its (exotic) trees show new flora and beautiful flower gardens yearly.

(Source and more information: www.neuchatelville.ch; www.j3l.ch).

Summer Program Origen

The Foundation (Stiftung/Fundaziun) Origen is devoting the summer to the theme of “space”. A series of new dance performances created by artists from Paris, Tbilisi, The Hague, Munich, Hamburg, Rio de Janeiro, Kiev, Saint Petersburg, Amsterdam, Antwerp and London. The shows will occur in the Julier Tower (Julierturm) at the Julierpass.

In Riom, Origen will focus on the Baroque architects of Graubünden and tell about Henrico Zuccalli, a master builder at the Elector’s court in Munich.
The village of Mulegns is open to the public. The White (3 D) Tower shows its first contours: a first storey will be erected in the summer and invites visitors to come into contact with new building technologies.

Romantic salon concerts and rarely heard masses resound in halls and village churches in Surses, the Albula Valley, Engadine and Bergell. The Commedia theatre group tours near and far.

And finally, Gregorian chants resound in the church of Mistail until early in the morning when the sun rises.

Period: 16 June – 14 August 2022

Locations: Riom, Mulegns, Julierpass, St. Moritz, Pontresina, Alvaschein, Chur, Pratval, Zernez, Lucerne, Herrliberg, Samedan, Winterthur, Alvaneu, Poschiavo, Bergün, Laax, Lenzerheide, Riom, Sils i.E., Silvaplana, Bondo, Malix , Verscio, Zuoz.

(Source and further information: Origen Foundation, www.origen.ch).

The St. Gall Church in Ötlingen

Gallus was an Irish monk who accompanied his companions along the Rhine around 600 AD. He ended up in the area of today’s St. Gall. After he died in 640, his followers built the first church of the later abbey of St. Gall in 719.

In the 8th century, this abbey had possessions in the Markgräflerland (in the later Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany). It was culturally one of the most renowned abbeys north of the Alps.

The foundations of this church can be found under the floor of the present-day church in Ötlingen (Baden-Württemberg). The St. Gall Church (St. Gallus Kirche) was first mentioned in 1275.

The frescoes from the 13th and 14th centuries show scenes from the New Testament and the martyrdom of the Apostle Paul. The top row shows pictures of St. Gallus’s life and two deacons. St. Gall holds the bishop’s staff in his hand. A large image of the apostle is attached to the wall of the church tower.

A severe earthquake hit the area in 1356. It destroyed Ötlingen and the church. Renovation soon followed, and the choir was extended to the east, given its late Gothic architecture. The church also received a sizeable Gothic tabernacle.

The church converted to the Protestant faith in 1556. The House and Grand Duchy of Baden have always been closely connected to the church and the village. Baden’s yellow-red coat of arms is, for this reason, the keystone of the chancel arch.

(Bron: H. Saecker, Die St. Gallus. Kirche in Ötlingen, Ötlingen 2007).

The Oudolf Garden and the Tsuyoshi Tane Garden House of the Vitra Campus

The Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein (Germany) near Basel is a complex of contemporary architecture that combines the Swiss furniture manufacturer Vitra’s cultural, commercial, production, research and design facilities in one location.

Since its opening in 1989, the site has been transformed by the addition of buildings by world-renowned architects into one of the world’s leading furniture design and research centres, featuring a unique permanent collection and temporary exhibitions at the Vitra Design Museum.

The Oudolf Garten (garden) completes the concept. The garden complements the architecture and decorates the museum, storage, production, and other buildings, giving them new perspectives.

Some 30,000 plants with different flowering periods and life cycles create a garden with constantly changing colours throughout the year. The Dutch garden architect Piet Oudolf (1944) calls his combination of plants a “community”, which fits in with the “furniture design community” of Vitra.

Winter 2024

Other Swiss companies and cultural institutions apply the same concept, for example, the Novartis Garden and its recently opened medical pavilion and the Merian Gärten (gardens) in Basel, the Paul Klee Zentrum in Bern, the Gletscher Garten in Lucerne, the Kirchner Museum in Davos, the Attisholz-Areal in Solothurn, the Pierre Gianidda Fondation in Martigny, the Hermitage and the new Museum Complex plateforme 10 in Lausanne and various other organisations, which combine nature, culture, art, industry and architecture.

The Swiss Spectator will feature some of these institutions in Switzerland and the surrounding regions, for example, the Rheingärten and the recently opened landscape park in Neuenburg am Rhein.

(Source and further information: Vitra Design Museum, www.design-museum.de).

Piet Oudolf, planting design.Vitra Design Museum

Tsuyoshi Tane, The Tane Garden House (2023)

The Iglingerhof and the Olsberg Monastery

Each Swiss village or country road has its beauty. The Iglingerhof comprises two houses with farms near Magden (Canton of Aargau).

The estate existed in the Middle Ages and was owned by Olsberg Monastery until 1790. This Cistercian monastery for women is the oldest of this order in Switzerland.
It was founded at the beginning of the 13th century.

Through bequests and purchases, it acquired more and more estates and vineyards in Alsace and the present-day cantons of Aargau and Basel-Landschaft. The monastery also owned properties in the towns of Rheinfelden and Basel.

The monastery was dissolved in 1803 when the canton of Aargau was created by the new Confederation (Act of Mediation of 1803). The properties were sold to private individuals. The Iglingerhof had already been sold in 1790.

The Christian Merian Foundation acquired the Iglingerhof and 67 ha of land and forest in 1918. The Foundation has been leasing the estate for farming since this time.

The Niklauskapelle already existed in the thirteenth century. It burned down in 1860, but its memory lives on in the Gothic choir, which has been restored and integrated into the complex.

In various other places, medieval churches are incorporated into farmhouses; examples are the Romanesque chapel in Donatyre (canton of Vaud) and the Romanesque church of San Niclà in Strada (canton of Graubünden).

(Source and further information: Kloster Hortus-Dei (kloster-olsberg.ch).

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Switzerland

By adopting the convention in 1972, UNESCO tasked itself with preserving cultural and natural sites of exceptional universal value for future generations. More than 1,100 sites are now recognised as world heritage sites. Switzerland was one of the first signatories in 1975.

Switzerland is home to 13 sites on the World Heritage List, including nine cultural sites:

,