It's the spine of Europe, top of the Alps, the continental divide along the high ridge with the famed Jungfrau, Moench, and the rugged Eiger. We went upgrade from the Valley of the Rhone over the Grimsel Pass, and down the north side to the valley of the Aare River that eventually empties into the Rhine.
Reaching the Valley of the Aare, we roll into the famed resort town of Interlaken on the river between Lake Brienz and Lake Thun. This region, considered one of the most beautiful in Switzerland - and that's a stretch - is the higher, southern part of Canton Bern, known as the Bernese Oberland.
The Bernese Oberland, predominantly German-speaking, is another region from which ancestors of many of our southern Wisconsin Swiss-Americans emigrated in the latter 1800s and early 1900s.
Some scattered pieces from the Bronze Age have been found in this area. In prehistoric times the Oberland was crossed by hunters and traders. But the first known settlements were from the Roman era along the river and lakes. Romans used Alpine passes between the Rhone and the Aare, including the Grimsel Pass over which we had traveled.
In the 12th Century, a village grew up around the Interlaken Abbey. The influence of the Abbey grew under the aegis of the Holy Roman Empire. A series of conflicts led to its decline until the latter Middle Ages.
During the 14th and 16th centuries an interesting agricultural trading pattern emerged. The Oberland villages began trading with the grain producing towns of the Bernese lowlands. This allowed the higher Alpine villages to concentrate on raising cattle in the high Alpine pastures, bringing them down to the valleys in winter. They could then export cattle to the Berner lowlands and over the passes to Italy.
On the right bank of the Aare was the village of Untereen, later absorbed by the village of Interlaken. On the left bank were villages of Matten and Aarmuhler, the latter using the name of Interlaken for its post office and train station. The name was officially changed to Interlaken in 1891.
The emergence of Interlaken as a tourist destination began with poets and artists. Albrecht Haller published a poem, "Die Alpen" in 1729. Landscape portraits by Franz Koenig and other artists appeared around the 1800s, drawing attention to the area. During the early 1800s tourists were arriving for the clear mountain air and spa treatments at some early resorts. With the increasing number of hotels and improved transportation links, including an expanded rail system, this area became popular with wealthy British tourists, beneficiaries of the industrial revolution.
During the two World Wars, the tourist industry declined. But the 1950s saw a new wave of hotels, holiday homes, and apartments leading to the eventual rise of tourism that we see today.
After another fine breakfast at our hotel, our tour group visits Ballenberg, a 164-acre open-air museum near Brienz that displays traditional buildings and architecture from many regions of Switzerland. These structures have been transported from their original sites.
Some of these buildings feature artisans demonstrating traditional crafts. Others feature live animals. Visitors are permitted to wander through these structures to view furnishings and artifacts exactly as they existed during their respective time periods. It would take days to go through a majority of the structures in this fascinating open-air museum. After several hours wandering through the grounds we gather by the entrance to board the bus.
Adjacent to the entrance is a grassy lot on which several Brown Swiss cows are contentedly grazing, their cowbells musically tinkling as they slowly move along. With the comfortable temperatures, sunshine, and lush grass, the cows seem to be posing for tourists. Is it my imagination? They seem to be saying, "See, aren't we pretty, posing for you tourists, while pretending to ignore you?" They clearly enjoy the attention, although if they could speak, they would deny it.
We board the bus and head west past Lake Thun, then through Leissigen, birthplace of Martha Bernet. We arrive in Uetendorf where we visit the Gusset Brass Foundry that has been run by the same family for generations. This is where cowbells are made and we are treated to an informative, interesting demonstration.
The preparation of the molds, the hazardous process of pouring molten metal into the molds, and the removal of the hot finished product from the molds - we are fascinated by the nonchalance and ease with which the workers, with minimal protective gear, handle the molten metal in close vicinity of the hot furnaces. Naturally, after viewing the process, we visit the showroom and many of us purchase some finished products of that enterprise.
Then it's off to Wimmis, a town of 2,500 people. The original church in Wimmis, one of the oldest in Switzerland, was built in the 7th century. Originally a Catholic church, as all were at the time, it became Protestant with the Reformation during the 1500s. On our tour we have three Regez sisters with family connections to that church.
We find the church, discover that it is open, enter and wander around. Sure enough, the Regez name is prominently featured on one of the stained glass windows. John Jacob Regez, great-great-grandfather of the Regez sisters, was mayor of Wimmis for 17 years.
We note other familiar local names on the church windows and on a commemorative plaque in front of the church. Erb, Huber, Wolf, Scherer, Bahler, Krahenbuhl, and Schmid are a few examples.
It gives one a sense of heritage and history to visit a foreign country and finding it familiar with so many names we know, see in our telephone books, and see on business places as we wander down streets of our own cities and villages of Green County.
It is indeed one of the thrills of visiting the land of one's ancestors.
- John Waelti's column appears every Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
Reaching the Valley of the Aare, we roll into the famed resort town of Interlaken on the river between Lake Brienz and Lake Thun. This region, considered one of the most beautiful in Switzerland - and that's a stretch - is the higher, southern part of Canton Bern, known as the Bernese Oberland.
The Bernese Oberland, predominantly German-speaking, is another region from which ancestors of many of our southern Wisconsin Swiss-Americans emigrated in the latter 1800s and early 1900s.
Some scattered pieces from the Bronze Age have been found in this area. In prehistoric times the Oberland was crossed by hunters and traders. But the first known settlements were from the Roman era along the river and lakes. Romans used Alpine passes between the Rhone and the Aare, including the Grimsel Pass over which we had traveled.
In the 12th Century, a village grew up around the Interlaken Abbey. The influence of the Abbey grew under the aegis of the Holy Roman Empire. A series of conflicts led to its decline until the latter Middle Ages.
During the 14th and 16th centuries an interesting agricultural trading pattern emerged. The Oberland villages began trading with the grain producing towns of the Bernese lowlands. This allowed the higher Alpine villages to concentrate on raising cattle in the high Alpine pastures, bringing them down to the valleys in winter. They could then export cattle to the Berner lowlands and over the passes to Italy.
On the right bank of the Aare was the village of Untereen, later absorbed by the village of Interlaken. On the left bank were villages of Matten and Aarmuhler, the latter using the name of Interlaken for its post office and train station. The name was officially changed to Interlaken in 1891.
The emergence of Interlaken as a tourist destination began with poets and artists. Albrecht Haller published a poem, "Die Alpen" in 1729. Landscape portraits by Franz Koenig and other artists appeared around the 1800s, drawing attention to the area. During the early 1800s tourists were arriving for the clear mountain air and spa treatments at some early resorts. With the increasing number of hotels and improved transportation links, including an expanded rail system, this area became popular with wealthy British tourists, beneficiaries of the industrial revolution.
During the two World Wars, the tourist industry declined. But the 1950s saw a new wave of hotels, holiday homes, and apartments leading to the eventual rise of tourism that we see today.
After another fine breakfast at our hotel, our tour group visits Ballenberg, a 164-acre open-air museum near Brienz that displays traditional buildings and architecture from many regions of Switzerland. These structures have been transported from their original sites.
Some of these buildings feature artisans demonstrating traditional crafts. Others feature live animals. Visitors are permitted to wander through these structures to view furnishings and artifacts exactly as they existed during their respective time periods. It would take days to go through a majority of the structures in this fascinating open-air museum. After several hours wandering through the grounds we gather by the entrance to board the bus.
Adjacent to the entrance is a grassy lot on which several Brown Swiss cows are contentedly grazing, their cowbells musically tinkling as they slowly move along. With the comfortable temperatures, sunshine, and lush grass, the cows seem to be posing for tourists. Is it my imagination? They seem to be saying, "See, aren't we pretty, posing for you tourists, while pretending to ignore you?" They clearly enjoy the attention, although if they could speak, they would deny it.
We board the bus and head west past Lake Thun, then through Leissigen, birthplace of Martha Bernet. We arrive in Uetendorf where we visit the Gusset Brass Foundry that has been run by the same family for generations. This is where cowbells are made and we are treated to an informative, interesting demonstration.
The preparation of the molds, the hazardous process of pouring molten metal into the molds, and the removal of the hot finished product from the molds - we are fascinated by the nonchalance and ease with which the workers, with minimal protective gear, handle the molten metal in close vicinity of the hot furnaces. Naturally, after viewing the process, we visit the showroom and many of us purchase some finished products of that enterprise.
Then it's off to Wimmis, a town of 2,500 people. The original church in Wimmis, one of the oldest in Switzerland, was built in the 7th century. Originally a Catholic church, as all were at the time, it became Protestant with the Reformation during the 1500s. On our tour we have three Regez sisters with family connections to that church.
We find the church, discover that it is open, enter and wander around. Sure enough, the Regez name is prominently featured on one of the stained glass windows. John Jacob Regez, great-great-grandfather of the Regez sisters, was mayor of Wimmis for 17 years.
We note other familiar local names on the church windows and on a commemorative plaque in front of the church. Erb, Huber, Wolf, Scherer, Bahler, Krahenbuhl, and Schmid are a few examples.
It gives one a sense of heritage and history to visit a foreign country and finding it familiar with so many names we know, see in our telephone books, and see on business places as we wander down streets of our own cities and villages of Green County.
It is indeed one of the thrills of visiting the land of one's ancestors.
- John Waelti's column appears every Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
