Author: Maarten Koning

Altdorf is the economic, political and cultural centre of the canton of Uri and traditionally a gateway to the Gotthard Pass. It is also the town of William Tell (Wilhelm Tell), the legendary hero.

Altdorf is the town where popes, politicians, soldiers, pilgrims, craftsmen, artists and poets stopped to exchange horses, took a break, or stayed for the night.

Goethe (1749-1832) was several times in Altdorf (1775, 1779 and 1797). He informed Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) about his impressions and experiences. Schiller then wrote about Wilhelm Tell in 1804.

The Russian general Alexander Suvorov (1730-1800) spent the night in Altdorf on 26 September 1799, including his army of 25 000 soldiers.

A monument and the Surovov trail commemorate this fateful event.

(Further information: (www.uri.info).

The meaning of the word Chalet as a characterisation of all wooden houses in Switzerland dates from the nineteenth century and can be attributed to English tourists.

Until then, a chalet was a wooden house high up in the alpine meadows and intended to accommodate the farmers in the summer. In the nineteenth-century sense of the word, the village of Brienz on the Brienzersee has a true art treasure to offer.

The many authentic chalets and woodcarving crafts have made this place famous, as evidenced by the Woodcarving Museum (Schweizerisches Museum für Holzbildbauerei), the school for violin makers (Geigenbauschule) and many woodcarving workshops.

(Further information: www.brienzersee.ch).