Swiss and Switzerland

Switzerland, and to a lesser extent southern Germany, is dotted with majestic California Giant Sequoai trees, many of them hundreds of years old.

I took this snap on the eastern shore of Lake Zürich, where this tree was planted next to a church:

Interestingly, due to global climate change these trees in California are all endangered, but it could be the climate of Switzerland might provide something of a sanctuary for them.

I recently took this snap at the Zürich airport,

This is an artistic a snap as I thought I could take of a lone hunting shack at the edge of a farmer’s field in north central Switzerland:

Oh, the fun you will have sitting warming in this shack, covered by a thick wool blanket, waiting patiently for some animal to thoughtlessly walk into the crosshairs of the telescopic sight on your rifle.

I prefer fishing.

What I’m not quite sure about is why these shacks are so predominant in Germany and Switzerland, yet in other countries are much rarer or impossible to find.

Continuing the series, here is a pair of giant California redwood trees standing next to the Klosterkirche in the north central Swiss village of Rheinau:

As artful a snap as I thought I could take of a pond across from an ancient Carthusian monastary in north central Switzerland:

It’s really more of a holding pond for water that trickles down the hill above, chills for a while in the pond, then continues down to the Thur River below.

I often believe Schaffhausen doesn’t get the attention it deserves, it has to be one of the most magnificent medieval walled villages in Switzerland or anywhere else

A view of the misty northern shores of the Bodensee (Lake Constance), looking east:

One of the best sights in Luzern is not really of the old city, but rather of the various buildings that align the north shore of Vierwaldstättersee:

Deep within the Swiss village of Rorschach there is an open air art exhibit that provokes intense conflict between conflicting emotions. This is one of the most magnificent, stunning works of open air art I have ever seen, because the artist has very carefully established an intense, passionate conflict situation between heartfelt human emotions.

But what emotions are these?

The beautiful – stunning works of mosaic art, very carefully crafted over weeks if not months.

The hideous – enclosing these magnificent works of art in ugly industrial monstrosities.

The callous – letting weeds and wild grass grow within the monstrosities, showing the world that despite a superficial attempt at protection, in reality no protection is intended.

Here is an example of one of these:

And here is a second example:

Magnificent, absolutely magnificent!

No matter how small the pond, the Swiss use it as a chance to generate hydroelectric power, as this snap taken near Göschenen near the famous Gotthard Pass shows:

Switzerland is a land of many secrets. Everyone knows about the banking secrets, where anyone around the world can hide their money in a famous numbered bank account. Everyone knows about the secrets of lost paintings from WWII, hidden deep in bunkers underneath the Swiss Alps. Everyone knows about the secret Freeport in Geneva, which provides storage lockers at an airport that bypasses customs control, no-questions-asked, and where, according to experts, the overwhelming majority of the world’s art and archaeological treasures have been squirreled away by poachers and collectors alike.

But if you have lived here as long as I have, you know there are other secrets – real secrets – secrets so terrifying that even the Swiss themselves never speak of them, even in the privacy of their own homes. Secrets which, if you were even to whisper them to a close friend at a bar, mean you would be likely to simply disappear.

The Eschenberg Tower (in German, the Eschenbergturm) is one of these mysteries. It has been rumored to be a huge steel tower, many hundreds of feet tall, hidden deep within the thick forests of north-central Switzerland.

Who built it? Nobody knows.

Why was it built? Nobody knows.

Does it really exist? A secret that no Swiss will ever reveal to you.

Well, for several years now I hike through the forests – not knowing exactly if this rumor is true – so you can imagine my surprise when I found myself on a lonely hiking trail and I saw this sight:

Could this be that mystery tower?

My heart began to heartbeat. My pulse began to pulsate. My sweat began to sweatswate.

I approached slowly – and cautiously – in a state of near disbelief – until my eyes gazed upon this incredible sight!

It is indeed a tall tower, many hundreds of feet tall. Here is as artistic a snap as I thought I could get:

So, yes, I can confirm that this tower really does exist. But I cannot even dream of letting you know where. And in fact, after leaving he tower, I totally wiped my mobile phone to ensure there was no electronic trace whatsoever of where I have been.

Loud parties – even louder music – psychedelic drugs – great volumes of alcohol, drunk with wild abandon.

No, these wild bees are not those kinds of wild bees!

Continuing the series, here is another wild bee hotel, nestled deep in the Eschenberg Forest that is close to my home:

I took this snap looking up a rather steep hill in Wülflingen area of Winterthur – but the way it turned out, it looks rather horizontal:

Nothing special, just one of the many tens of thousands of “half-timbered” houses that adorn the North Central Swiss countryside:

Continuing the series, a while ago I showed this snap of the famous Underground Recycling Cisterns of Winterthur:

Well, today I caught an operator hard at work, emptying one of the cannisters:

You learn something new everyday – or at least, I do.  Today I learned that there are wild bees that actually do not make any honey.

Winterthur operates a series of hives all over the outskirts of the city, to help provide a home for these wild bees.

Here is what the hive looks like – covered in plastic, so that the public can see the bees:

And here’s a description on a plaque next to the bee stand:

And here’s a closeup

According to what I read above, the tubes that are covered over must contain a bee egg or larva.

I guess this snapshot doesn’t really do it justice – for some reason a big red flower has chosen to grow in an otherwise completely grassy area in Winterthur.

What kind of a flower is it?

Why did it chose to grow there?

Was it an accident or did someone plant it?

I’ll have to go back to the field where I took the snap, and take a snap of the bigger field.

Continuing the series, here is another snap of a public drinking fountain located in Winterthur:

Interestingly, the skyscraper in the background – for a long time Switzerland’s tallest – may be the current headquarters of the Sulzer Ltd. company – but it ain’t got nothing on the old classic Sulzer buildings, of which hundreds of them (literally hundreds) are scattered around Winterthur.

A castle is not a castle is not a castle – in the German language there are many different types, such as a Schloss or a Burg.

This one is well and truly a Schloss:

Getting up close and personal, here it was it looks like from one side:

And here is what it looks like from the other side:

With the current Corona restrictions in place I’ve had plenty of time to explore the (mostly empty) Swiss countryside on my motorcycle, being able to find and enjoy tranquil spots like this one.

Here they are, the Sulzer brothers (in German, Gebrüder Sulzer):

That’s Johann Jakob on the left, and his brother Solomon on the right. Interestingly, they weren’t the founders of the Gebrüder Sulzer company, which is today Sulzer Ltd., but rather their father, also named Johann Jakob. Founded in 1834, it’s Switzerland’s oldest company still in existance – and I had the great privilege and pleasure of working there.

Anyway, back in the day it was a heavy manufacturing company with forges and presses and steel working capabilities, and today the face of the Swiss city of Winterthur is still adorned by hundreds of Sulzer buildings and artefacts – literally hundreds – including this antique fountain (Brunnen, in German), where I stopped on my motorcycle to have a quick drink of water.

 

Not trying to document them all – don’t think I ever could – but the Corona quarantine gives me plenty of time to go exploring the magnificent Swiss countryside on my motorcycle, where I see sights like this one:

Lest you miss it, here is a blow-up:

Warning – once you see this, you cannot unsee it!

It seems blue clockfaces on Swiss churches are something of a pandemic – and just about every village in Switzerland has been infected!

I took this snap in outside of the tiny village of Lupfig in an even tinier, almost microscopic village who’s name I can’t remember.

For reasons I don’t fully understand, Swiss villages tend to be a bit more spread out than their German counterparts. But be that as it may, here is an artistic a snap as I thought I could get of a tiny village nestled so deep within the north-central Swiss countryside that tourists have been been here, no likely will ever be: