Montreux

17 March 2021

A walk along the shores of Lake Geneva in Montreux (canton Vaud)  encounters politicians, journalists, artists and royals from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), Gustave Coubert (1819-1877), Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881), Empress Sisi (1837-1898), Ignacy Paderewski (1860-1941), Henryk Sienkiewics (1846-1916), Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), Carl Gustaf Emil von Mannerheim (1867-1951) or, for example, Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) lived or died here or regularly visited the town.

The architecture, music halls, and art activities witness the rich artistic life and late 19th and early 20th-century splendour. The old centre gives an impression of life before the arrival of the beau and artistic monde from the middle of the nineteenth century.

It also shows that Montreux and the surrounding area have more to offer than just statues and (jazz) music. Chaplin’s World (Corsier-sur-Vevey), Le Corbusier’s villa ‘le Lac’, La Tour de Peilz and the museum of games (musée suisse du Jeu), Vevey and its Alimentarium, museums and old town, the Chillon Castle, the splendid parks and gardens and the proximity of the Alps offer a unique spectrum.

(Bron: www.montreux.ch).