The Life of a Swiss Cow
12 August 2022
Available in German, French and Dutch
Swiss German and the four Swiss languages
3 August 2022
One of the fascinating aspects of Switzerland is that a fifteen-hundred-year history has established many contemporary (language) borders, identities and cultures. The German language The Alemanni introduced the German language to large parts of eastern, northern and central Switzerland after the departure of the Roman legions around 410 AD. The six centuries after the fall … Read more » “Swiss German and the four Swiss languages”
The Musical Tradition of Basel
17 July 2022
Basel has a musical tradition of many centuries. The music theory and compositions of Bonifacius Amerbach (1495-1562), including the Codex Amerbach, were famous in the sixteenth century. This homo universalis was also an art collector, jurist, humanist and, above all, a friend and contemporary of Erasmus of Rotterdam (1469-1536), who lived, worked, published and finally … Read more » “The Musical Tradition of Basel”
Erlebar-App Experience of Roman Towns
15 July 2022
The Roman theatre of Aventicum (Avenches, canton of Vaud) has been undergoing restoration for several years. The building is the largest of the four Roman theatres in Switzerland (Avenches, Augst, Lenzburg and Lausanne). Roman Theatre. Photo: TES Roman Theatre. Photo: TES The building could seat around 12 000 spectators. The monument was built in the second … Read more » “Erlebar-App Experience of Roman Towns”
The Border Stones of Switzerland
2 July 2022
Switzerland is a country of mountains, cheese, chocolate, cowbells, and border stones. Thousands of border stones mark the countryside. The history of the (small) cantons, their neighbouring countries, “Untertanengebiete” and “Zugewandte Orte” (allies of the Confederation), shows many border corrections. Untertanegebiete were occupied territories administered by the (predominantly) German-speaking Confederation or individual cantons. Chevenez (canton … Read more » “The Border Stones of Switzerland”
Annecy, Geneva, Savoy and L’Escalade
1 July 2022
The Counts of Geneva, like their neighbours, the Counts of Savoy, were dynasties in the Kingdom of Burgundy (888-1032). The Counts controlled the areas of Faucigny, Genevois, and the town of Annecy, a small part of the Chablais along Lake Geneva, and Gex in France around 1300. Geneva was the administrative centre. Annecy was a … Read more » “Annecy, Geneva, Savoy and L’Escalade”
The Swiss Economic Miracle and John Bowring
27 June 2022
A small question about a small country in the Alps with no direct access to the sea, no colonies, no natural resources or raw materials (apart from water, granite, wood and stone), largely uninhabitable, inaccessible and infertile territory and, until 1848, with a medieval, chaotic state system of almost entirely sovereign cantons surrounded by powerful … Read more » “The Swiss Economic Miracle and John Bowring”
The Freedom of the Swiss
26 June 2022
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 … Read more » “The Freedom of the Swiss”
The Alemannic Language
26 June 2022
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 … Read more » “The Alemannic Language”
The Sumatra-Swiss
3 June 2022
Switzerland is one of the world’s most innovative, globalised and cosmopolitan countries. The image of an island in the middle of Europe or the European Union is untrue today or yesterday. However, it is a monetary, democratic and social oasis in various ways. For centuries, Switzerland and its entrepreneurs have provided services, exporting, importing and … Read more » “The Sumatra-Swiss”