Three Weeks in Alpine Utopia - Switzerland 2008

Three Weeks in Alpine Utopia - Switzerland 2008
A Travel Log

Oliver V. Glover
June/July

Air Transportation provided by Swiss Air and United Airlines.

I was the house guest of my friends and hosts, Kurt Bruser, a retired English/German Language Instructor and Wagner enthusiast of Thalwil, a suburb outside Zurich along Lake Zurich and Albert O. Meyer, a retired Hospital Administrator of Spiegel, a suburb of Bern with panoramic views of the Alps, Bundeshaus (Neo-Renaissance style including three domes with copper patina), seat of the Federal Assembly overlooking the River Aare.


Zurich, Central by train and boat

Zurich is positioned between the Rhine and the Alps, at the northwestern end of Lake Zurich in the Swiss Mitteland. It is the largest city in Switzerland and considered to be one of the most desirable cities in the world to live in.

The Romans first built a military camp around 58 BC where the town of Turicum grew. During the 16th century it was the centre of Reformation in German – speaking Switzerland. The Dada Art movement was founded in Zurich in 1916.

Waking up in the peaceful village of Thalwil the home of my host Kurt was a great joy. He is a gourmet chef and dedicated gardener. We enjoyed marvelous meals in his comfortable home and garden.

Today we found ourselves on an expedition of the streets lined with shops, along the Bahnhofstrasse dating from 1864 to 1867. Great antique shops and book stores can be found throughout the area. Beautiful antique Gallé, French art glass caught our attention as it glowed and shimmered in the reflective light of the sun lit lake. I particularly, enjoyed meeting Jacqueline, proprietor of Jacqueline Aden Antiques, Kirchgasse 26, 8001 Zurich. Jacqueline has a lovely shop featuring 18th and 19th century furnishings. She has a strong eye for period decorative arts. I coveted a Rocco consol table with a wooden gilt base formed by stylized acanthus leaves, topped with a beautiful slab of white veined oxblood marble for a mere $25,000.
We walked along the promenade of Lake Zurich where pale skinned pale bathers displayed themselves upon the lake front lawns, in and out of the water enjoying the warmth of the summer afternoon sunlight.

Kurt accompanied me to the Museum
Reitberg at Gablerstrasse 15. The history of the site on which the Museum Rietberg stands today begins in the summer of 1857, when Otto and Mathilde Wesendonck, a married couple from Wuppertal, moved into their newly-built, grand, neo-classical house, today’s Villa Wesendonck. Otto Wesendonck, a shareholder in a silk trading company, had come to Zurich from New York in 1851, to set up home with his 24-year-old wife Mathilde. The Wesendoncks’ new home soon became a cultural meeting place.

The Museum Rietberg Zurich is the only art museum for non-European cultures in Switzerland exhibiting an internationally renowned collection of art from Asia, Africa and Ancient America. It intends not only to focus on the fascinating variety of artistic expression, but also to raise interest and understanding of foreign cultures, views and religions.
The core of the Museum's collection dates back to a generous donation of Baron Eduard von der Heydt. Through the long standing contact with patrons, collectors as well as foundations and corporate sponsors, the Museum Rietberg has been able to continuously grow.
The history of the site on which the Museum Rietberg stands today begins in the summer of 1857, when Otto and Mathilde Wesendonck, a married couple from Wuppertal, moved into their newly-built, grand, neo-classical house, today’s Villa Wesendonck. Otto Wesendonck, a shareholder in a silk trading company, had come to Zurich from New York in 1851, to set up home with his 24-year-old wife Mathilde. The Wesendoncks’ new home soon became a cultural meeting place.

Mathilde Wesendonck played hostess to a wide circle of artists, intellectuals and academics. The Wesendoncks were particularly fond of the composer Richard Wagner who had fled to Zurich as a refugee in 1849. They gave Wagner and his wife Minna a home in the half-timbered house beside their villa (today’s Villa Schönberg) which Wagner called his "asylum on the green hill".

If one is to believe the glowing letters and declarations of love which he wrote to his muse during his sixteen-month stay on “the green hill”, Wagner had fallen completely under Mathilde’s spell. Inspired by this love, he completed the handwritten libretto of “Tristan and Isolde” and set down on paper the first sketches of the opera. Mathilde, five of whose poems Wagner set to music (the Wesendonck Songs), was similarly inspired and entranced by her conversations, musical performances and readings with the composer.

On New Year’s Eve 1857, Wagner gave his beloved muse the draft score of “Tristan and Isolde” with a poem dedicated to her: “Full of joy, empty of pain, pure and free, forever with thee”. The intimate relationship between Mathilde Wesendonck and Wagner and the jealous reaction of Minna Wagner led to a crisis. Wagner separated from his wife, but also from Mathilde Wesendonck, and in August 1858 hastily left his “asylum” and travelled to Venice. In 1871, the Wesendoncks sold their property on the “green hill” and returned to Germany.

In 1949 the citizens of Zurich decided that the Villa Wesendonck should be turned into a museum for the collection of Baron Eduard von der Heydt which was to be donated to the city. In 1952 the new museum, the Museum Rietberg of the City of Zurich, opened its doors.

Thanks to great public success and because of lack of exhibition space, Zurich city council decided in spring 2001 to enlarge the museum. In April 2002, the public works department of the city council invited tenders for the project

The winner was the joint proposal “Canopies of Emerald” from the architects Alfred Grazioli (Berlin) and Adolf Krischanitz (Vienna and Berlin). The title of the proposal is a reference to the poem “In the Hothouse” written by Mathilde Wesendonck, the first occupant of the Villa Wesendonck, which was set to music by Richard Wagner.

Today a wonderful contemporary building exist as a glass pavilion
to showcase temporary exhibits. Today a special Indian miniature exhibition entitled Rama and Sita – The Ramayana in Indian Painting. There was also another featured exhibit, Picturesque View: Early Photography in India. We enjoyed a showdown puppet performance in the galleries.

The permanent collections are displayed in rooms of the original house which include Chinese, Japanese, African, and Oceanic artifacts.



Luzern, Central by train

Lucerne in French is on the western shore of Lake Lucerne. Luzern emerged around a Benedictine convent which dates backed to 1178 and after 13th century it became an important trading centre. After the opening of the St Gotthand Pass Lucerne became an important staging point for trade. It was involved with religious and political disputes during the Reformation and let the catholic resistance in Switzerland.

Today it hosts the International Festival of Music. A visit to Switzerland is not complete without including having coffee and pastries along the Reuss River where Kapellbrucke the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe, built in the 14th century as part of the town’s fortification, listening to a concert at the largest baroque building in Switzerland the Jesuit Church, built between 1666 and 1669 strolling the streets of the Old Town and enjoying the views of Lake Luzern complete with paddle steam boats and Alpine peaks in the distance from the modern Kultur- und Kongresszentrum, designed by the French architect, Jean Nouvel. It houses a large concert hall and Museum of Art.

Schaffhausen, North-Eastern by Train

What a joy it was to spend time with our guide Raeto, a retired nurse in the beautiful town of Schaffhausen. I have wonderful memories of strolling up and down the charming streets filled with amazing historical architecture and gardens. I particularly found the oriels, bay windows adorning the buildings as elegant wings jutting out to welcome us pilgrims.

Dinning in restaurant Wirtschaft zum Rite’s garden with charming Renate as our hostess was an unexpected pleasure. Renate attended Swiss boarding school as a girl and practice speaking English with an American classmate. The views from The Munot fortress showed the surrounding neighborhoods at their very best. And the power and roar of the Rhine Falls was breath taking.

Appenzell, North-Eastern by Train

St Gallen, the largest town in eastern Switzerland and home to a UNESCO World Heritage site. St Gallen surrounds Appenzell, one of the smallest cantons in Switzerland. It has a pristine natural environment with colorfully painted wooden houses with a 16th century town hall and Baroque style parish church, Kirche St. Mauritius remodeled in the 19th century.

The green meadows and grey of the Alpine massif higher up provide a wonderful back drop for the making of the Appenzell cheeses and a strong folk tradition. I was quite taken with the canton of Appenzell regional folk costume consisting of a vivid red vest, decorated with embroidered edelweiss, worn with yellow mountain ram skin breeches and a quaint black brimmed hat adorned with alpine flowers and cascading ribbons.

I made an appointment with the only leather smiths in the region Vreni and Walter Foster who provide the service of made to measure, milk dyed yellow leather knee breeches. Their workshop is located in their lovely home tucked away in the country several miles from the village center, in an area called Stein, complete with sheep napping in the shade of a walnut tree. I had the great fortune of hearing Walter sing traditional folk songs from the region. He has made many CD’s long with his vocal group.

I also met with Manfred Rohner the proprietor and his assistant Mrs. Rechsteiner of the shop, Trachenstube Appenzell, “The Costume Room of Appenzell”, found in the village center. I purchased a made to order Liebli, traditional red wool embroidered vest or waistcoat in the style of the late 18th/early 19thcenuties.

Ticino Area the Italian Boarder at Lake Maggiore, South by Train

We traveled on the Lotschberg Bahn to Domodossola, Italy and on the Centovalli Railway further south to the villages of Locarno and Ascona Switzerland. The villages are located at the northern shore of Lake Maggiore, a mixture of rural-Alpine on the one hand and Mediterranean on the other. The town of Locarno hosts annual international film and jazz festivals.

We traveled by funicular tram to visited a 17th century pilgrimage church, Madonna del Sasso, located high on a rock outcrop above the town featuring amazing views of Lake Maggiore and the surroundings towns. Also the neo-classical parish Church, Magadino features organ concerts during the summer and frescoes in the process of being restored.

From the northern Ticino Valley’s idyllic woodlands lead us through the St Gotthard Massive, through serpentine trails and tunnels by train.



Graubünden and the Swiss National Park of the Engadine Valley, South-Eastern by Train

One of the major highlights of the trip was waking up in Miralago where my room overlooked an alpine lake and snowy peaks as part of a visit to the Swiss National Park of the Engadine Valley located in Eastern Switzerland and the Graubunden. The Albula/Bernina train route which covers an area of 172 sq km (66 sq miles), from Chur to Paschivo, Switzerland near the Italian boarder was just declared a “World Heritage” site by UNESCO during the time of my visit.

The Rhätische Bahn Pass uses trains travel over the Alps without using long tunnels, whose serpentine tracks gracefully shape to the contours of the natural environs. The ride offers spectacular views of sheltered valleys with forests of pine and lurch to flower-covered meadows of and rocky glaciers and snowy peaks.

The park populated by ibex, chamois and deer, eagles, and vultures, and colonies of marmots. Many rare plants, including edelweiss and alpine poppy, grow here. The snowy peaks with an altitude averaging 1,800 m (5,000 feet) high of the Rhaetian Alps, near St. Mortiz, northwards to the Austrian boarder. The Bernina Pass has an altitude of 2,538 m (7638 ft. The Bernina is the highest peak reach 4,049 m 12,347 feet.

We traveled to St Moritz just in time for a bite of lunch on the terrace at the famed Restaurant Hauser. On the northern side of the Lake of St Moritz I not only enjoyed a great meal but found boutiques, luxury goods for ready cash or credit and the 19th century Hotel Palace where Rolls Royce cars gather in numbers at it’s entrance. At last St Moritz is a place to see and be seen.

Bern, Central by Automobile

The historic Old Town is still almost completely intact, founded in 1191. The painter Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918) is from this canton. Albert Einstein also lived in Bern in 1905 where worked on his famous Theory of Relativity.

My visit to the Historisches Museum of Bern provided an opportunity to view an exhibition displaying outstanding works of art exemplifying Burgundian court culture. It brings together priceless loans from the world’s leading collections. The dramatic life of Charles the Bold is retold, and his brilliant court life illustrated, using the most advanced exhibition technology.

I had a wonderful chat with our friend Karen who is a textile conservator at the Historisches Museum of Bern just before she flew off to Norway on holiday with her family.

One is able to experience the heyday of late medieval art, the glory of the age of chivalry, and the magnificent pomp of court festivals, yet also the cruelty of war, Charles’s downfall and the rise of the House of Habsburg as a world power.

I enjoyed having dinner with a new friend, Thom Wehrle of St Gallen, a young physician from the regional hospital in Bern. We all dinned at the Panorama Restaurant Gutenbrünnen located between Belp and Thun on an idyllic Bernese farm setting with bell latten cows clanging way, panoramic views overlooking snowy peaks in the background and richly patterned plots of neighboring farmlands on gentle sloping hills.

A Saturday afternoon spent assisting Albert with framing works from his collection at the framers’ atelier in the Old Town of Bern with amazing Mid-evil architecture and endless shops. I found beautifully painted circa 1850 Familial Rose Chinese Export plates at Galerie Hafner. I enjoyed talking with Danéle and Ueli Hafner proprietors. Ueli worked for the prestigious auction house, Jürg Stuker Auctioneers. I had the opportunity to visit Stuker galleries 10 years ago during their winter auction.

A tour of the 15th century Munster St Vinzenz, (German influenced late Gothic style) building begun in 1421 and completed in early 16th century, a striking depiction of the Last Judgment fills the tympanum in the 15th century central portal with its beautiful stain glass windows was a welcomed refuge from the in culminate weather.

Later I dropped in on old friends, Jörg and Eleanor on Brunnadernstrasse where we enjoyed elderberry presse in their music room/solarium. The music room is often offered to local and visiting performing artists for use as a rehearsal space. The lovely late nineteenth century house surrounded by gardens complete with topiaries which include a peacock, dragon, swimming turtle, Easter bunny with bow and Koi pond, is the childhood home of Jörg, a retired Swiss chemist who has recently celebrated his 85th birthday. Jörg appears on stage in Bern as an actor in local operas and theatrical productions.

Eleanor is a decorative arts painter, advent gardener, collector and hostess. She is originally from Ohio living in Bern since the 1960’s where she met her husband Jörg and has called Switzerland home every since. Their house is located in the fashionable Kirchenfeld Area of Bern where the international embassies are located including the palace residence complete with clock tower, of the Vatican’s representative of the Pope to Switzerland.

I made an appointed with the Schnitzler, wood carver, Herr H. Rubin, (Wiesenweg 13, 3123 Belp, 031/8190272) to discuss copying Rocco style wall brackets for displaying object d’art.


I photographed an elaborately painted garden pavilion in the style of a Thai temple at the home of the Ambassador of Thailand. Located across the street from the Ambassador’s home is a Swiss Campaign House built in the 18th century. One of the most famous men who lived in it was Georg Ludwig Emanuel Ziegler, who founded the Ziegler-Hospital. Albert was instrumental in coordinating the restoration project of this building maintaining the original integrity of the building yet converting it for contemporary use as meeting and office spaces for the Hospital of Bern’s administrative use. The project won an award for its successful preservation affords.

From a hill top location at the Restaurant Chutzen in Belpberg outside of Bern, we enjoyed taking in the vistas of the Bernese countryside and the Alps with Fritz Hess, a most charming chocolatier and confectioner of Tschirren, a Swiss based international company.

Jegenstorf, Central by Automobile

Albert surprised me with a trip to Schloss Jegenstorf located in Jegenstorf 16 km north of Bern. The house is situated in a park with a network of paths and century-old trees, long-distance views, a romantic fishpond, an orchard with rare native fruit trees and peony borders.

As Director of the Zieglerspital, Albert had the opportunity to loan a collection of early 19th century furniture own by the city of Bern’s hospital to Schloss Jegenstorf for exhibition within the elegantly appointed rooms filed with incredible examples of decorative arts.

The original medieval stronghold was rebuilt in the 1720’s and turned into an elegant baroque country house. Since 1936 the castle is home to the Museum for Bernese Home Decorative Arts of 17th – 19th centuries, with special emphasis on the 18lth century interior, The valuable furniture includes outstanding examples from the well-known Bernese cabinetmakers Funk, and Hopfeugärtuer. There is also an important collection of baroque stoves, ceramics, clocks and portraits.

Solothurn, Central by Automobile

Next, a visit to the town of Solothurn, renowned as Switzerland’s most beautiful Baroque city was relaxing. It was found by the Celts and later became the second largest Roman town north of the Alps. It was from 1530 to 1792, that the city’s finest buildings were constructed.

We had lunch at the historic 1478 Hotel Krone’s, restaurant located across from St Ursen Kathedrale. The room was decorated in painted paneled walls with 18th century with pale shades of green in the classical manner with Biedermeier style chairs.

The town center is dominated by St Ursen Kathedrale was built from 1763 to 1773 in the Neo-Classical style. Set on a hill, the cathedral is reached by steps flanked by ornamental fountains. The two-tier façade, which shows the influence of the Italian Baroque, is faced by Corinthian columns divided by a frieze. The frieze contains figures of Ursus and Victor, who were martyred by the Romans in Solothurn. The treasury in the crypt contains an interesting collection of liturgical vestments dating from the 10th century.

The Jesuit Church dating from 1680 to1689 is a magnificent example of High Baroque architecture. While the exterior is sparsely decorated, the interior glistens with frescoes and is encrusted with stuccowork by masters from Ticino. The church is regarded as Switzerland’s best baroque building.

Geneva, South-Western by Train

Geneva is situated next to the beautiful Lake of Geneva. It is a cosmopolitan city for its modest size, is very wealthy and is important on the world stage. Geneva is the European Headquarters of the United Nations and the birthplace of the international Red Cross and Red Cresset. It is French-speaking and a dynamic centre of business.

The Cathédrale St-Pierre was build over a span of some 70 years from 1160 to 1230. It has a mixture of styles, basically Gothic, it incorporates earlier Romanesque elements and has incongruous Neo-classical portal which was added in the 18th century. In 1536 it became a Protestant church, losing most of its lavish Catholic decoration. The interior is now a plain and austere. The cathedral stands on the site of a Roman temple and a complex of later buildings part of the remains of which can be seen at the archaeological site nearby.

Around the corner from St-Pierre we managed to find a charming café called Le Mortimer at 2 Place Bourg de Four, where we had a lovely French lunch in their side garden with sparrows chirping merrily near by.

Next we were off to The Ariana, Swiss Museum of Ceramics and Glass next to the United Nations. Built between 1877 and 1887 it represented the second museum building in Geneva generously given by Gustave Revillod a wealthy and scholarly bachelor who bequeathed all his possessions to the city of Geneva. Designed by architect Emile Grobèty, but completed by architect, Jacques-Elysée Goss the Ariana is an eclectic and monumental with Neo-classical and Neo-Baroque elements with the influence of Italian palatial architecture is clearly discernible. Consequently, the Ariana stands out from other architecture in the city.

The museum holds an outstanding collection including a study collection. The permanent collection includes seven centuries of creation in faience, blue & white, porcelain, China, pottery, stoneware, cream ware, glass and international contemporary ceramics. The exhibition rooms display manufacturers from Switzerland, Germany, France, England, Italy, Japan, China, Spain, Netherlands, Demark, Austria, Russian, Sweden, and Middle Eastern countries. The collection rivals that of our Bowles Peabody Porcelain Collection at the Legion of Honor Museum of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
After the rigorous tour of the Ariana we felt the need for replenishing our strength at the Aver Café with a cup of frothy Swiss coffee. The café is frequented by United Nations diplomat’s exotic wives and their fashionable daughters from Middle Eastern countries, all proudly carrying handbags from Hermés and Armani boutiques. Geneva is truly the most internationally and multicultural community in Switzerland with beautiful and exotic faces everywhere. With French spoken it felt like a trip to Paris.


Editing by Albert O. Meyer and Kurt Buser, EDPP I & II

A special thanks to Albert and Kurt for helping to plan and coordinate this year’s adventures in Switzerland.

Thank you also to Edward for first introducing me to his ancestral home in Switzerland 17 years.