Author: Maarten Koning

The Celts and Romans in Bern

The area of the city of Bern was already inhabited in the Iron Age (after 800 BC) and during the Roman occupation (15 BC – 400 AD).  The small informative exhibition shows the remains of this history on the Enge peninsula (Engehalbinel).

Since the Iron Age, several Celtic tribes have lived in the Swiss Mittelland. These tribes shared the Celtic culture but were not politically united. The Helvetians were the largest tribe in this area. The oppidum walls from the second and first centuries BC are still partly preserved and accessible.

Around 15 BC, the area became part of the Roman Empire. However, before the conquest, there were already trade contacts. In the first century AD, during the Roman occupation, the settlement began to resemble a typical Roman town, known as a vicus.

A small archaeological exhibition showcases this history and the Romanisation of the local Celtic population, for example, through houses, workshops, bathhouses, an amphitheatre, and Gallo-Roman temples where the population worshipped local Celtic, Roman, and Eastern gods.

In the second half of the 3rd century, the Pax Romana came to an end, and the region was abandoned, likely due to invasions by Germanic tribes and Roman civil wars.

It was not until 1191 that Duke Berchtold of Zähringen (1160-1218) founded the city of Bern.

(Source and more information: www.be.ch/archaeologie).

Saignelégier, horse breeding and the Franches-Montagnes

Saignelégier is the capital of the Franches-Montagnes (canton of Jura). Before 1380, the region, which lies at an average altitude of 1,000 metres, was called the Montagne des Bois (Forest Mountain). Dense forests covered the area.

In 1385, Prince-Bishop Imier de Ramstein of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel declared the region tax-free for its inhabitants, hence the name Franches-Montagnes. Today, the Franche-Montagnes is one of the three districts of the canton. The region is the bastion of Swiss horse breeding.

The municipality of Saignelégier also includes the villages of Les Pommerats and Goumois, hamlets, and isolated farms, including Les Cerlatez, La Theurre, Le Chaumont, Belfond, Le Theusseret, Vautenaivre, Malnuit, and Le Moulin Jeannottat.

The national horse market (le Marché-Concours national de chevaux), which takes place on the second Sunday in August, is considered the biggest folklore event in the canton. Founded in 1897, it attracts thousands of spectators.

Franches-Montagnes gets a lot of snow in winter, and despite its relatively low altitude, the area is relatively snow-covered. At the end of January, the famous sledge dog race ( la course de chiens de traîneaux) occurs.

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

The Salzhaus in Brugg

The Salzhaus (salt storage building) in Brugg (canton of Aargau) closes off the Hofstatt to the south, on a steep slope of the river Limmat. It is the largest square in the old town.

On this spot stood the residence of the Habsburgs, who ruled Aargau until 1415. The (eight) Eidgenossen conquered Aargau in 1415, and the territory became a subject territory (untertanengebiet) governed by the eight Orte (cantons)

The castle of the bailiff (Landvogteischloss) of the Confederation (Eidgenossenschaft) still bears the arms of the eight cantons. The new lords replaced the Habsburg residence with a late Gothic building at the beginning of the 16th century. Bern established the vital management and storage of salt in this impressive building, which has remained essentially unchanged since then.

Today, the building with its imposing roof is used as a cultural centre. The square and its medieval streets have undergone minimal changes over the centuries.

The governor’s castle, the wooden bridge, and the historical museum are at the foot of the slope.

The St. Bartholomew Church in Saas-Grund

The church in Saas-Grund (canton of Valais) was first recorded in 1297. St. Bartholomew was the church for the four villages (Saas-Fee, Saas-Almagell, Saas-Grund and Saas-Balen) of the Saas valley (Saastal).  A new church was built on the old site in 1685 and consecrated on 31 July 1687.

On June 1, 1893, Saas-Fee and Saas-Almagell separated from the mother church in Saas-Grund and founded their parishes. Saas-Balen followed in 1907. On August 28, 1939, the Bishop of Sitten consecrated the new church in Saas-Grund.

The church tower, as a campanile, recalls the old ties between the Saas valley and the neighbouring Valle Anzasca in Italy.

(Source: www.pfarreisaasgrund.ch).

The Petersgasse in Basel

The two central hills in the centre of Basel are a few hundred metres apart. The hill of the Münster has been inhabited and cultivated since Celtic times. The murus gallus and archaeological site near the Münster Cathedral are a reminder.

In the fifth century, the bishop relocated to this site when he left the Roman city of Augusta Raurica, now Kaiseraugst, eight kilometres upstream from the Rhine. The hill was a safe refuge when the Alemanni invaded the region.

The cathedral, the bishop’s palace and the monumental residences of the lords of the chapter still dominate the Münsterplatz. From the 12th century onwards, wealthy burghers and aristocracy also inhabited the immediate surroundings of the Münster.

Wealthy merchants in the 18th century and industrialists in the 19th century built their palaces on this hill and the banks of the Rhine. The Martinskirche, built in the 11th century, was the most parish church in this neighbourhood. The hill of the Münster is opposite the Roche towers.

Basel of the craftsmen and guilds, which became increasingly powerful from the 12th century onwards, is located on the opposite hill. Picturesque medieval streets, alleys and houses define the image of this district. The St. Peterskirche and the St. Leonardskirche, two former abbeys from the 11th century, dominate the scene.

Both abbeys were dissolved around 1529 at the time of the Reformation. Since 1572 (the year of the St. Bartholomew’s Night massacre in Paris), the St. Leonardskirche has been the French Evangelical Reformed Church of Basel (L’Église française réformée de Bâle).

Erasmus (1466-1536) also lived in this part of Basel in the house Zur Alten Treu from 1522 to 1529 as a guest of his friend-publisher-printer Johannes Froben (1460-1527). It was the period of the Reformation and the dissolution of the nearby abbeys. Erasmus is buried in the Münster on the other hill in 1536.

The St. Peterskirche remains the centre of this medieval quarter, with its attractive buildings, including the Rosshof (horse yard) and the residences of the notable figures of the time.

Bally Shoe Museum

When Swiss watchmakers were conquering the world, another episode began in the village of Schönenwerd (canton of Solothurn). The beginning of the Bally shoe dynasty.

In 1847, Carl Franz Bally (1826-1899) took over his father’s company, which specialised in producing silk tapes. Based on this production, he specialised in making shoes for the better classes in 1851. The first factory was built in this village in 1853.

His creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and organisational skills led to the fifth-largest employer in Switzerland (over 3,700 jobs) by 1905 and a global network of factories and shops in Europe, North America, and South America.

Arthur (1849-1912) and Eduard (1847-1926) took over the management of the company, then known as C.F. Bally Söhne, in 1892.

The Bally Shoe Museum (Bally Schuhmuseum) was established in 1942 in the former residence of its founder, Carl Franz Bally, known as the Haus zum Felsgarten.

The twelve-room collection is one of the largest in the world and traces the history of footwear from ancient Egypt, 3,000 B.C., to the present day.

The museum has also paid extensive attention to the history and products of Bally since 1851. The brand still exists, but has not been a family business since 1977. Bally has changed the village of Schönenwerd and given it the (industrial) look of a town.

The brand has also provided footwear for generations of royals, including Queen Beatrix and Queen Elizabeth II, as well as aristocrats, dandies, miniskirt wearers, conservative bankers, and top businesspeople.

Top athletes or unique events have always been of interest to the company. Olympics, mountaineering, hiking, tennis or (winter) sports, Bally often made footwear, especially for the occasion.

For example, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay (1914-1986) wore reindeer skin boots made by Bally when he climbed Mount Everest with Edmund Hillary (1919-2008) in 1953.

The museum (Bally Schuhmuseum) shows the (creative) history of the company in guided tours by appointment or on Saturday afternoons.

(www.schoenrewerd.ch/www.bally.ch).

L´Etang de la Gruère

The two peat ponds, l´étang de la Gruère and Les Royes, and the border river Doubs are natural treasures of the Franches-Montagnes. The Fondation Les Cerlatez gives further information.

The Etang de la Gruère is a nature reserve of national importance. The reserve spans over 120 hectares.

The moor extends over 56 hectares and has a nine-metre layer of peat, accumulated over 12,000 years (after the end of the ice age). In the 17th century, an artificial dam was built to operate a mill.

Most of the reserve lies within the territory of the town of Saignelégier (canton of Neuchâtel). Still, some of it also extends into the territory of the villages of Bémont and Montfaucon (canton of Jura), as well as Tramelan (canton of Bern).

(Source and further information: www.j3l.ch).