Author: Maarten Koning

Two villages, two inns, a medieval bell and nature in Emmental

The source of the Emme, at 2197m between the Hohgant and Augstmatthorn mountains, is the border area of the Bernese Oberland and Canton of Lucerne. The river flows into the Aare at the border of Canton Solothurn near Luterbach. Between lies the Emmental, with Langenthal as the regional centre of the Obere Emmental and Burgdorf as the larger town in the Untere Emmental.

The Emmental is a district of Canton of Bern, with 98,000 inhabitants in an area of 690m2. There are eight cantons with fewer inhabitants and even ten cantons of a smaller size!

Emmental is famous for its Meränggen in Kemmeriboden-Bad and its cheese (König der Käse/King of Cheese). Anyone who says cheese also refers to the agricultural sector (about 10% of Emmental’s workforce).

The numerous mostly large Emmental (wooden) farmhouses, their crops and livestock, lone lime trees on hills and wooden bridges characterise the landscape. From Burgdorf to the source of the Emme, more than 30 wooden bridges span the river, including the famous 60-metre-long Hasle-Brücke near Hasle-Rüegsau.

The author Albert Bitzius alias Gotthelf-Jeremias (1797-1854) knew and wrote about life in the Emmental and its inhabitants (Das Emmental ist ein Hügellland, düster aussehnend von weitem, aber lieblich und heimelig in der Nähe) like no other. He placed the beauty of the landscape in the mostly not very idyllic themes of his time.

In the middle of the Emmental lie the villages of Ursenbach and Dürrenroth. Dürrenroth’s history is as fascinating as its name, ancient bell and two major establishments.

Dürrenroth

A document mentions the town in 1275 under the name ‘Rota’, probably referring to the red colour of the stream’s water. In 1326, the name ‘Ze der Dürren Rot in dem Dorf’ appears as a dried-up Rot ( the stream’s name). However, the Rotbach flows again, as it has for centuries. 

The village has long been owned by the Teutonic Order of Knights (Deutsche Ritterorde) and the lords of Sumiswald. The mighty castle in Sumiswald still oversees the Emmental. Bern bought the village from the Lords of Sumiswald in 1698.  

The village centre has several characteristic buildings. The church from 1486 (a new construction of an older Romanesque church) has one of the oldest church bells in Switzerland. The St Laurentius bell from 1392 (apparently from the Romanesque church) is one of five bells in the tower.

Landgasthof Bären

The late Baroque guesthouses ‘Bären’ (1752) and ‘Kreuz’ (1806) are not only colossal in size and monumental in status but also complexes with beautiful gardens, hotel-, and restaurant facilities. Both buildings were already Taverns in the 16th century.

Hotel Kreuz

Kreuz owes its name to the cloister in the building. The cloister is closed on four sides with identical oak doors to the north, east, south, and west. The north-south axis refers to the church porch opposite. 

The two guest houses were important places for changing horses on the Lucerne-Bern route in the era of the stagecoach until the arrival of the railways in the Emmental in 1908.

In the ‘Kreuz’, carriages with horses could even enter the guesthouse in the so-called Kreuzstock in lousy weather. Landgasthof ‘Bären’ and Hotel ‘Kreuz‘ are members of Swiss Historic Hotels nowadays.

Ursenbach

A few kilometres north is the village of Ursenbach ((Ursibach in a charter from 1139). This village has belonged to Bern since 1414. The main feature of the village is its church and, in particular, the letter of 11 November 1515 from the city of Bern.

The letter of 11 November 1515 (copy in the church)

Bern kindly requested the village inhabitants finance the renovation of the old Romanesque church (12th century). Bern’s will was, of course, law, and soon afterwards, the rebuilding in the late Gothic style was completed, including 14 windows as gifts from Bern, Lucerne, Solothurn, Freiburg, and Basel.

Photo in the church

The current church is the result of this renovation. However, not everything has remained the same since then. Faith changed soon after, following Protestant Bern.

However, the landscape, the many farms, and the great importance of the agricultural sector have remained the same over the centuries. 

The Swiss Alpine Club

The Swiss Alpine Club, section Basel (www.sac-basel.ch) regularly organises hiking trips in this region (and elsewhere).

The SAC (www.sac-cas.ch) organises ski tours, mountaineering and other sports in the high mountains and the Alps and activities in other regions.

(Source and further information: www.emmental.ch).

Impressions of the Emmental

  

       

    

The corridor Rotterdam-Basel-Genua and the Swiss Rhine Ports

The first large Rhine ship arrived in Basel in 1904. The Rhine port of St. Johann was expanded in 1906 and dissolved in 2011. A second Basel Rhine port was built in Kleinhüningen between 1919 and 1942.

The ports of Auhafen in Muttenz and Birsfelden (Canton Basel-Landschaft) were built between 1937 and 1940. In 2008, the ports of both cantons merged to form the Swiss Rhine Ports (Schweizerischen Rheinhäfen, SRH). These ports are the gateway to the world’s oceans and seas via the Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Genua (transport through the Gothard tunnels) seaports.

Cologne. Photo: Guido Wasser, Basel

The High Rhine (Hochrhein) till and the Upper Rhine (Oberrhein) in Basel

The Upper Rhine begins in Basel and was originally divided into numerous side arms. The regulation of the Upper Rhine from 1817 to 1876 forced the river into a single bed.

Port Basel-Kleinhüningen

From 1928 to 1959, the ‘Grand Canal d’Alsace’, a 53 km-long canal, was built between Kembs and Breisach. Twelve power plants dam the Rhine between Rheinfelden and Karlsruhe, increasing the river’s water depth and making it navigable all year round.

The Birsfelden lock has an important function. The annual number of locks is over 10,000, including 6505 large ships (and some rowing boats!).

The SRH asserts itself in the regional, national, and international environment. Today, it forms the national transport hub on the Rotterdam-Basel-Genoa freight corridor. The SRH provides the infrastructure for transhipment activities and ensures that the port remains attractive as a logistics location.

The three port sections of Kleinhüningen, Birsfelden, and Muttenz Auhafen handle 6 million tonnes of goods and over 100,000 containers annually, corresponding to around 10 per cent of all Swiss imports. The Rhine port terminals handle every third litre of mineral oil and every fourth container.

(Source and further information: Port of Switzerland) 

The Upper Rhine

The Waal (the Rhine) near Nimwegen

Colonia Iulia Equestris or Nyon, the oldest town of Switzerland

The foundation of Colonia Iulia Equestris, today’s Nyon (canton of Waadt), in 45 BC was one of Julius Caesar’s last political decisions. This Roman general had defeated the Celts at Bibracte, near present-day Autun in France, in 58 BC. 

Several Celtic tribes, including the Rauraken and Helvetic tribes, moved towards Burgundy that year to settle far away from the Germanic tribes. At this time, Rome had not yet occupied this part of France (Gaul), and Celtic tribes lived there, too. 

The bad luck for the ‘Swiss’ Celts was Caesar’s ambition to conquer Gaul, and new Celtic tribes in Gaul did not fit into this picture. The defeated ‘Swiss’ Celts returned to their territory and concluded treaties with the Romans. Caesar wanted Roman strongholds at two strategic locations: the Colonia Iulia Equestris on the shores of  Lake Geneva and Augusta Raurica (founded around 45 BC) along the Rhine. 

Nyon’s rich Roman history can be seen in the city centre, the Roman museum and the site archéologique majeur, which includes the foundations of an amphitheatre, forum, basilica, aqueduct, bathhouses, insulae (residential areas), and the street plan.

After the Romans left in the fifth century, Augusta Raurica decayed into two small fishing villages, Augst and Kaiseraugst, with a few hundred inhabitants. However, the Colonia Iulia Equestris developed into a monumental regional town of significance.

The Dukes of Savoy ruled Nyon for centuries, using the castle (12th century) as their administrative centre. Nyon had an important strategic location on Lake Geneva, between Lausanne and Geneva and on trade routes.

Bern conquered the Pays du Vaud and Nyon in 1536. The castle was the residence of the Berner bailiff until 1798 (French invasion). Today, the castle is a museum.

Another important monument is the Temple de Nyon, built in the 12th century. It has been a Protestant church since 1536. 

Le Temple de Nyon

The Park du Bourg de Rive on the edge of the lake and of the old city walls proudly displays the (later installed) Roman columns. The monastery of the Friars Minor (Frères mineurs) in the park dates from the 13th century and became a hospital in 1537. Today, it is the site of the Musée du Léman.

Musée du Léman

Above all, Nyon is a perfect city for strolling and a good starting point for visits to Aubonne and the countryside, other cities such as Lausanne, Geneva, Rolle, or Morges, and views of the Alps and Lake Geneva.

(Source and further information: www.nyon.ch)

  

Tour de l’Horloge

Park du Bourg de Rive