Author: Maarten Koning

St. Chrischona in Bettingen

The St. Chrischona church on the Dinkelsberg (522 m) near the municipality of Bettingen (Canton of Basel-Stadt) is dedicated to St. Chrischona. The nearby village of Bettingen is one of three communities in this small canton. The two other municipalities are Basel and Riehen.

Bettingen

Bettingen was originally an Alemannic village. Successive Lords owned the town before it was sold to Basel in 1513. The main reason was the commercially attractive pilgrimage church Chrischona. Basel bought Riehen in 1522.

Until the arrival of the national states after 1815, the Rhine was not a natural border. Many abbeys, dioceses, princes, dukes, counts and other political units owned estates in the Swiss Confederation and vice versa.

The nearby 250-metre television tower offers a fantastic view of the Black Forest, the Vosges, the Jura and the Alps.

Bettingen was the border town with the Grand Duchy of Baden (1806-1918), the Republic of Baden (1918-1933), the Third Reich (1933-1945) and is it nowadays with the German State of Baden-Württemberg.

The Church

According to the Legenda Aurea, Chrischona and her two sisters survived Ursula’s journey with 11,000 virgins to Cologne.

Chrischona is said to have died on the spot of the church.  Her remains were buried in this church in 1506. The first church was built in the seventh century. The current (Gothic and Renaissance) church dates from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and remained a pilgrimage place until the Reformation.

After the Reformation, the church fell into disrepair and was renovated in the nineteenth century. Nowadays, it is part of the Chrischona campus.

The church is located at the highest point of the canton and offers a beautiful view of the Rhine, Basel, the Alps, the Jura, and the southern foothills of the Black Forest.

(Source and further information: www.chrischona-campus.ch)

Chrischona

Wintertourism Engadin

The most significant growth of tourism in Switzerland took place in Engadine (Canton Graubünden) in particular took place between 1870 and 1914.

A stay in a Grand Hotel or spa was prestigious. Scuol, Vulpera Sils Maria and, for example, St. Moritz were among the most popular destinations.

Many Grand Hotels were built. One initiative deserves attention: the owner of hotel Kulm, Johann Badrutt (1819-1889) invited in 1865 English guests to stay in his hotel in the winter, free of charge. It was the beginning of winter sports and the popularity of St. Moritz.

Bobsleigh, curling, skeleton sliding, ice Hockey, skiing and figure skating and the Olympic Winter Games (1928) became a way of living in St. Moritz.

(Source: T. Cavadini Canonica, A. Cavadini, Das Engadin. Kurze Geschichte einer Alpinen Welt, Sondrio, 2009).

Exhibition on Multilingualism

Multilingualism in school classes and work has been a reality for years and is still increasing. The event at the Sprachpanorama in Laufenburg (Canton of Aargau) provides an opportunity to explore the different dimensions of multilingualism, with participants exploring the nine different themes in small groups and taking part in workshops and guided tours.

The exhibition on 20 May will focus on the role of languages in everyday life, with whom and for what purpose, experiences, and the advantages and disadvantages of multilingualism.

The Sprachpanorama 

The Sprachpanorama in Laufenburg (Canton of Aargau) is a  museum and an educational institute.

It presents a permanent exhibition on Swiss dialects, the dialect landscape in all its variations, the history of the German language from the Germanic period to the 20th century, and multilingualism in Switzerland. Other topics include reading and writing, the origin of the alphabet, language families and language diversity.

the Sprachpanorama is also an educational institute on communication and organises workshops, guided tours and training.

(Source and further information: www.sprachpanomara.ch).

The Häftli Nature Reserve

The Häftli near Büren and Meinisberg (canton of Bern) has been a water and bird reserve of national importance since 1991.

After the completion of the Nidau-Büren canal in 1891, during the first water correction of the Jura (the Juragewässerkorrektion of 1868-1891), the water level dropped, and the Häftli developed into a stagnant water body. The rivers Aare and Zihl were the source of this new water landscape.

During the second water correction of the Jura (1963-1973), a permeable dam was built, allowing fresh water from the Nidau-Büren canal to flow into the Häftli.

Juragewässerkorrektion/la correction des eaux du Jura

Following the retreat of the Rhone glacier at the end of the last ice age, around 15,000 years ago, a large lake came into being between the present-day towns of Solothurn and La Sarraz (Canton of Vaud).

The water level dropped over a process of a few thousand years. The debris and rocks filled the plain, and three lakes remained: Lake Neuchâtel ((Neuenburgersee/lac de Neuchâtel, Lake Murten (Murtensee/Lac Morat) and Lake Biel (Bielersee/Lac de Bienne).

The region of Seeland became a marshy area with floods and flood disasters. The correction of the waters in the Three Lakes region in the 19th century is an outstanding example of the Swiss engineering skill, the Delta Works of Switzerland (Juragewässerkorrektion/la correction des eaux du Jura).

The project by engineer Richard La Nicca (1794-1883) was carried out between 1868 and 1891.

It included canals between the lakes of Biel and Neuchâtel (Zihlkanal) and Murten and Neuchâtel (Broyekanal), the diversion of the Aare from Aarberg to Lake Biel (Hagneckkanal), the canalisation of the last part of the (Alte) Aare from Büren to Nidau (Büren-Nidaukanal) and the lowering of the water level in the three lakes by several metres. In 1899, the hydroelectric power station (Laufwasserkraftwerk) Hagneck was also put into operation.

However, the region was still flooded. The second water correction was carried out between 1962 and 1973. It included the construction of the Flumenthal waterworks and extending and widening the channels of Hagneck, Broye, Zihl and Nidau-Büren.

Floodplains and bird species

The Häftli is characterised by water level fluctuations.  This environment created a mosaic of habitats and an extraordinary diversity of flora and fauna.

More than 200 different (migratory) bird species live in this area. Several beaver families found a home.

Rare plant species grow in the alluvial zones. Thanks to the high groundwater level, the trees and their roots reach the water, and the character of the floodplain forest is preserved.

(Source and further information: www.bueren.ch; www.be.ch).

The Swiss Economic Laboratorium

Why and when did little Switzerland become a relatively large economic power in the twentieth century?

The basis goes back centuries to the fifteenth to the nineteenth century.  Trade in central Switzerland flourished after the opening of the Gotthard Pass in the thirteenth century. The Confederation, and its powerful cities, developed. Bern was the most powerful city-state north of the Alps in the 16th century.

In the 18th century, many regions had already reached a high economic and industrial development level.

There were numerous trading houses from Genf to Appenzell, from St. Gall to Neuchâtel, and many production sites for, amongst other things, textiles.

Swiss entrepreneurs and merchants could be found in all markets of the continent and the world, as far as China and America. Raw materials worldwide were imported, processed, refined and then sold in large quantities to Europe and overseas.

This book discusses the period in the nineteenth century, especially after the establishment of the new Confederation in 1848.

In the 1860s, Switzerland was the most visited country in Europe. The country was changing rapidly. The process was far-reaching and affected the industry, infrastructure, economy and society.

By 1875, the Swiss railway network was the most extensive in Europe, along the lines where the pioneers had started in the 1850s and 1860s. The Grand Hotels are the palaces of the Belle Epoque. The country of emigration became an immigration destination. The draught horse of the industrialisation of the 18th and 19th centuries became a post-industrial zone with high-quality industries and services.

The book (German language) reveals the sources and processes that triggered this development in the 19th century and is literature for anyone who wants to know how Switzerland became a booming industrial country.

Joseph Jung, Das Laboratorium des Fortschritts. Die Schweiz im 19. Jahrhundert, Zurich, 2019.

Concert UNICEF in Geneva

The geopolitical situation is more serious, more uncertain, and more dangerous than was thought possible until a month ago.

The Covid pandemic is not over yet, but the protection of children in war zones is of the utmost importance and has the highest priority for UNICEF.

In this context, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra and the Nexus Orchestra organise a benefit concert for UNICEF.

The orchestras will perform Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”. The Cellist Camille Thomas will be the special guest and play Edward Elgar’s concerto, composed in 1919.

Source and further information: www.illyria.ch

The Historical Lexicon of Switzerland

The Historical Lexicon of Switzerland (Das Historische Lexikon der Schweiz, DHL) Le Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, HLS) is a scientifically up-to-date and specialised encyclopaedia on Swiss history.

It is a source of historical-cultural research and an attractive online information service for the general public. The (identical) content is offered in three national languages: German, French and Italian.

The starting point of the online version is more than 36 000 articles of the printed edition (published from 2002 to 2014). These are continuously expanded, conceptually renewed, consistently linked and adapted to the multimedia requirements of the new medium. At the same time, the content is being systematically supplemented.

The contents reflect Switzerland’s cultural and multilingual diversity and the different historical realities of its cantons and communties.

The Lexicon presents the cultural history of the area that constitutes Switzerland today. It also includes regions that left the Confederation.

The contents also pay special attention to Switzerland’s close ties with neighbouring regions and Europe.

Die Schweizerische Akademie der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften, Bern, online: https://hls-dhs-dss.ch

Art, Nature and Culture in Val Müstair

A small valley with about 1 600 inhabitants, six (larger) villages and yet some world-famous and unique sights and remarkable linguistic, cultural and historical facts: the Val Müstair in the far east of Switzerland, on the border with South Tyrol and Lombardy in Italy. Several institutions are discussed below.

The local language is Jauer, a Romansh variant of Vallader in Unterengadin. In South Tyrol, in the region of Taufers, the language is the Vinschauer dialect; in Lombardy, it is Ladin, another language related to Romansh.

Charlemagne (748-814) knew this valley like rather well: he stayed here in 774 and 775 before and on his return from his campaign against the Lombards. The monastery of St Johann in Mustair (Claustra Son Jon) and the church in Sta. Maria owe their existence to the presence of Charlemagne.

Sta. Maria

The village was called Silvaplana, but over time took the name of the church. The village lies at the foot of the Umbrail Pass, one of the highest Swiss passes at 2503 (or 2501) metres, depending on Italian or Swiss measurement!

Until 1918, Austria was the neighbour. Italy acquired South Tyrol after the end of World War I (1914-1918) as a result of the Versailles negotiations (1918-1919). Since then, the Umbrail Pass has been called the Giogo di Sta. Maria on the Italian side.

The 1914-1918 museum

The 1914-1918 museum is dedicated to this history. The Austro-Hungarian army of the dual monarchy fought the Italian military from 23 May 1915 to 11 November 1918 at the Stelvio Pass (Stilfser Joch, 2578 metres) and the Umbrail Pass.

It is the irony of history that Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) was the driving force behind this war, even though the kingdom of Italy was not only neutral but had even been a member of the Triple Alliance of the German Empire and the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary since 1882.

However, the Entente of France and Britain promised Austrian territories in Lombardy and Trent and even South Tyrol in the event of victory, although almost no Italians lived there.

It was a ruthless war at an altitude of 2,500 metres. Heavy artillery, men, supplies, ammunition, hospitals, trenches and bunkers at this height where even the ibex does not like to dwell. The front did not change, but the human toll was enormous.

The museum approaches this period from the perspective of the Three Country Point and three languages: Italian, German and Romansh (Platz der drei Sprachen, plaz da las trais linguas).

The Swiss army guarded and defended its neutrality. A plaque at the church for soldier Joseph Bauhofer (1890-1918), who died of Spanish flu, is a reminder.

Joseph Bauhofer (1890-1918)

Whisky museum, brewery and museum

The Guinness Book of Records lists the Whisky Bar as the smallest in the world in 2007, with 300 types of Whisky for a village with less than 350 inhabitants! There is also a whisky distillery and a whisky museum.

De Muglin Mall

The mill, dating from the 17th century, is Switzerland’s oldest functioning grain mill. The Murainza stream and canal drive the mill. The complex is also a museum.

Hand-weaving company Tessanda

Hand weaving is a tradition and ancient economic activity in the valley. Until 1900, almost every farm had a weaving loom. Tessanda was established in 1928. Today, the weaving company uses 26 looms powered by human resources. The machines are between 40 and 120 years old. It employs nineteen people (nine weavers, three sewists, and four staff) and has three training posts. It is the oldest surviving hand-weaving company in the country.

Valchava

Biblioteca Jaura 

The library in the Chasa cumünala is more than a collection of books and magazines. It is a documentation centre on Jauer and the dialects spoken in South Tyrol and Lombardy, the history of this region and centuries of (cultural) exchange and relations. The writer Tista Murk (1915-1992) founded it in 1984 and left it his extensive archive and collection.

Hans-Peter Schreich, a former pastor in Vachlava, has since developed it into a (digitised) collection of 5 000 books, 40 periodicals, and thousands of photographs and slides. The Biblioteca Jaura is an independent part of the museum association Chasa Jaura.

About 10% of the books are older than 1900, including the 1679 Vallader Bible, printed in Scuol! The printing company moved to Strada a few years later.

Chasa Jaura Art-Museum Cultura

The museum is dedicated to the valley’s history, art and culture and organises regular events and exhibitions.

Müstair

The monastery of St Johann or Claustra Son Jon is the namesake of the village of about 700 inhabitants and the valley. Müstair means monastery.

Arena for a Tree

The Arena for a Tree (Arena für einen Baum) is an art intervention in the courtyard of the Landesmuseum in Zurich. The freely accessible Arena is a stand-in for nature and, at the same time, a powerful plea for its preservation.

The project is a follow-up to the Arena for a Tree on the Münsterplatz in Basel in spring 2021 (see Swiss Spectator 28 April 2021). However, his interest in trees and their environment goes back much further. The concern for the forest and the climate put his project in the current perspective.

In 2019, the artist realised the project of 299 trees in Klagenfurt’s Wörthersee football stadium. The Austrian artist Max Peinter (1937) and his drawing (1971) of trees in a stadium were the direct inspiration.

Other artists were interested in this issue as well, among others Franz Gertsch (1930) and his Waldweg (2013) and Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) and his Rettet den Wald (1982) and the planting of 7 000 oaks at the Documenta in Kassel in 1982.

Landscape architect Enzo Enea chose the ironwood tree (Parrotia Persica) from the witch-hazel family in Basel. The ironwood tree comes from classical Persia, is used in different seasons, and tolerates the urban climate. The aim was to introduce other trees in a changing environment.

In Zurich, however, the artist has chosen a dead fruit tree. The Arena is the same. However, the dead tree is a warning to humankind and an encouragement to do something and take action.

The artist will present the project in Venice and other European cities in the forthcoming years.

Source and further information: Isabel Zürcher, ‘Arena für einen Baum’ in Noëmi Crain Merz, Pascale Meyer (ed.), Im Wald. Eine Kulturgeschichte, Zurich, 2022).