The Blossom of the Jura Moutains

17 April 2025

The fruit trees near the village of Gempen (canton of Solothurn) are a feast for the eyes in spring. The mountains and wooded slopes put this blooming landscape in a fairytale perspective, only 20 kilometres from Basel.

The beautiful blossom is also present in other regions of Switzerland, such as Seeland, Berner Mittelland, Ticino, Aargau, Thurgau, Appenzell, and St. Gallen.

With the Nature and Landscape programme (Programm Natur und Landschaft), the Canton of Solothurn supports the preservation and improvement of the fruit tree landscape in the Jura Mountains.

Between the hamlet of Stollenhäuser and the farm Schönmatt near the village of Gempen, there are more than 1,200 standard fruit trees. Most of them are cherry trees, some of which are over 150 years old.

Until the middle of the 20th century, this region in the northwest of Switzerland had many more fruit tree areas. However, for various reasons, their number has declined sharply.

These trees enrich the landscape in all seasons because of their shape(s), the fruit, the bees and especially when they bloom.

The landscape, featuring fruit trees, meadows, and adjacent forests, is also home to a diverse animal world, set against the backdrop of the Alps.

(Source: www.solothurn.ch).