Local history in Switzerland.
17 March 2021
Le Pays-d´Enhaut belonged to the Count of Gruyère until 1555. After his bankruptcy, the region was ruled by Bern (the city also introduced the Reformation). The region was assigned to the new canton of Vaud by the Act of Mediation (Mediationsakte) in 1803. The three most important villages are Rougemont, Château-d´Oex, and Rossinière; smaller villages … Read more » “Le Pays-d´Enhaut”
17 March 2021
A walk along the shores of Lake Geneva in Montreux (canton Vaud) encounters politicians, journalists, artists and royals from the 19th and 20th centuries. Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), Gustave Coubert (1819-1877), Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881), Empress Sisi (1837-1898), Ignacy Paderewski (1860-1941), Henryk Sienkiewics (1846-1916), Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), Carl Gustaf Emil von Mannerheim (1867-1951) or, for example, … Read more » “Montreux”
16 March 2021
Available in French
15 March 2021
A restaurant in Val-de-Travers offers a remarkable recipe: ham cooked in asphalt. Ham cooked in asphalt was eaten by the miners. The asphalt mines in the valley were exploited from the beginning of the nineteenth century. Already in 1711, the Greek physician Eirini d’Eyrinys (1630-1730) discovered the first medical applications of asphalt and its use … Read more » “Ham Cooked in Asphalt”
14 March 2021
Available in French and Dutch.
12 March 2021
The Nietzsche House (das Nietzsche-Haus) in Sils-Maria in Upper Engadine (Oberengadin, canton Graubünden) is dedicated to Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900). The house was his (summer) residence from 1881 to 1888. The complete collection of his works He wrote his most prestigious publications in this house and village. The museum possesses two death masks of the … Read more » “Sils-Maria and the Nietzsche House”
11 March 2021
The Twannbach gave the village Twann (Douanne in French, canton Bern) its name. A document from the year 1136 mentions “Duana” for the first time. In the 13th century, the ecclesiastical rights passed to the Johanniterhaus in Münchenbuchsee (near Bern). The Johanniterhaus or Buchseehaus still stands today opposite St. Martin’s Church. Bern gained more and … Read more » “Twann or Douanne”
5 March 2021
Basel’s first medieval city wall was built by Bishop Burkhard von Fenis around 1080, shortly before the foundation of the monastery St. Alban (1083). At that time, Basel consisted of two communities: Grossbasel and Kleinbasel. The first Rhine Bridge (today, the Mittlere Brücke from 1905) was built around 1225. The town walls were reinforced and … Read more » “The City Walls of Basel”
25 February 2021
Available in German, French and Dutch.
23 February 2021
The city of La Neuveville (canton of Bern) is part of the (French-speaking) Jura and the administrative region of Jura bernois. La Blanche Eglise, built in the Carolingian period, was first mentioned in 866 and was owned by the abbey of Moutier-Grandval, after 1141 by the abbey of Bellelay. The Prince-Bishopric of Basel founded the … Read more » “La Neuveville”
