Calender Germar's Monthly Updater


June and July 2002: Switzerland

At the end of June, I had the honor of attending the panel review meeting of the "UNEP/WMO Scientific assessment of ozone depletion: 2002," organized in Les Diablerets, Switzerland. The document that was finalized during this conference contains the most up-to-date scientific understanding of ozone depletion, and will aid policy makers in their decisions of further protecting the ozone layer. The Executive Summary is here; the complete report will be published next year.

Les Diablerets is a magnificently situated resort in the Vallee des Ormonts, east of Lake Geneva. It's located at the foot of the 10650 foot high "Diablerets" (Horns of the Devil). The views of glaciers, waterfalls, and traditional Swiss block houses scattered in the valley below the soaring peaks were awe-inspiring. The gables of most houses were decorated with stories of their builders and owners. The one below, for example, was built 35 years before George Washington became the first president of the United States - and the house was certainly not the oldest one on the spot.


As I arrived half a day before the start of the meeting, I had some time to explore the vicinity of Les Diablerets. I walked along a creek, hiked over mountain meadows to the Col du Pillon, and went up to the glacier by cable car. The view from the summit was spectacular.


After the meeting I met my mom in Vevey. The small town, located at east coast of Lake Geneva and framed by vineyards, was a perfect setting for our reunion.


We were not the first to discover that Vevey is a pleasant place. Charly Chaplin spent the last 25 years of his life here and is buried in the local cemetery. We tried to find his grave but were unsuccessful. He is remembered by a memorial statue at the water front.


After one night's rest, we visited the Castle of Chillon south of Montreux. It stands on a rock close to the lakeshore. Building started over 1000 years ago. From the beginning of the 12th century onward it belonged to the Count of Savoy. During the golden medieval days, people of all social status lived under one roof: the prisoners dwelled in dungeons in the lower floors, and the aristocracy in the upper storeys. Bonivard, Prior of St. Victor's in Geneva, once had the honor to remain chained for four years to a pillar in one of the castle's dungeon because he favored the independence of the Geneva. He was freed by the Swiss in 1536 and later immortalized by the poet Byron in the novel "The Prisoner of Chillon". Like many later visitors to the castle, Mr. Byron could not resist to sign his name on one of the pillars. His graffiti is now protected with a plexiglas plate; more contemporary carvers are for some reasons less appreciated.


On the southern wall of Bonivard's prison is a drawing from an unknown artist who had lived in the 15th century.


The Grand Hall had some nice medieval piercing tools on exhibit. This proofs that piercing is not an invention of modern times; rather it is a revival a long forgotten traditions. The effect now and then is the same: people tend to get disfigured.


We continued our journey to Zermatt to have a glance on the Matterhorn, familiar to most people from Toblerone chocolate. Zermatt turned out to be a zoo rather than a lonesome mountain retreat. What made matters worse was the fact that we just arrived in the moment when Germany lost to Brazil in the soccer world cup. Cheering Brazilian fans (who knows what they were doing in Zermatt) were almost clogging the mall. I felt like being in Rio rather than in a small village at 5200 foot altitude, below one of the most spectacular peaks in the world. The Matterhorn was wise enough to keep its face hidden behind a layer of clouds during most of the time.

We finally found a side-road without hubbub and some old traditional barns, which have stoically survived the threats of time. Note that the houses are built on piles of rocks, presumably to prevent moisture from entering the beams.


After consuming some Swiss delicacies for lunch, we left Zermatt and drove over the Simplonpass to the lake "Lago Maggiore". We arrived during sunset, and the castle on the Island of Borromee was reflecting the last rays of the Sun in warm colors.


We stayed overnight in Angera, at the southern tip of the fiord-like lake. The next day, I visited a colleague at the Joint Research Center of the European Commission (yes, I wasn't just driving around for pure fun). The following day, we traveled along the east site of Lago Maggiore to Locarno (it was raining), drove up the St. Gotthard pass (I could barely see the hood of the car), continued to the Furkapass (8000 feet high), stopped at the Belvedere and Rhone glacier (we were almost trampled down by myriads of Japanese tourists), drove up the Grimselpass, and finally reached the Lake of Brienz. It was already late by then, and we decided to stay in Ringgenberg, a lovely little village at the north side of the lake.

Our hotel was directly at the lakeshore, and when I opened the window after a good night's sleep I was welcomed by a perfect sunny day.


The village looked like the giant blueprint for a miniature train setting - even the train was present.


We were very close to the "Jungfrau Region". Jungfrau means virgin (It refers to an over 13600 feet high mountain and not to what you might think). Starting in Stechelberg, we hiked for one hour. Nature was overwhelming, offering wild roses, waterfalls, and lush green meadows.


People were still cultivating land the old way. Hills were so steep that any more modern mower would be hard to operate.


The last leg of our visit to Switzerland was the EXPO.02, the Swiss National Exhibition. It simultaneously took place in four cities within the "Land of Three Lakes Region." We decided to visit Murten, a medieval village located at a lake with the same name. Getting a room for the night was tough. We finally ended up dwelling in a chateau - Schloss Münchenwiler.


The aristocratic hotel had almost everything, including a park with a Giant Sequoia. It wasn't quite as tall as her brethren in California, but easily exceeded all neighboring trees in height. I would say another 1000 years or so and the world's largest tree might be in Switzerland.


The exhibition itself was rather surreal, featuring a dragon ...


... some nice examples of Swiss produce ...


... and the "Monolith":


This giant monster is made of rusty steel, weighs 4000 tons, and has a size of 100 x 100 x 100 foot³. It is actually a floating boat. The interior accommodates a video installation and a panorama painting of the Battle of Murten, created by a German artist in 1893/94. It has the humble size of 364 x 34 foot² and depicts the rout by the Swiss confederates of the mighty Burgundian army led by Charles the Bold, fought in 1476. The people of Murten still re-enact the outstandingly successful bloodshed (about 20,000 soldiers of the Duke of Burgundy were killed and 1,000 soldiers of the Swiss Confederation died) periodically. Below is a small section of the huge painting.


On the way back to the airport we stopped in Gruyères, famous for the cheese of the same name.


If you think there is nothing going on in Gruyères besides making cheese and catering tourists, you may be wrong. Gruyères is also the birthplace of biomechanical lifeforms, the most famous of which is "Alien," known from the movie with the same name. The man behind these lovely creatures is H.G. Giger, who has his atellier and museum within the 400 year old castle of Chateau Saint-Germain, shown in the picture above. The shot below shows the "Birth Machine" (500lb heavy and 2 meters tall), welcoming visitors to his realm over otherworldly lifeforms. According to his website, the sculpture is H.R. Giger's "artistic manifestation of his strongly held belief that the greatest threat to our civilization is the approaching overpopulation of the planet" - an opinion that I admit to share.


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