Author: Maarten Koning

The Cattle Descent in the Alps

The cattle descent (Alpabzug) is an old tradition and an annual festival in the Alps nowadays.

The cows and their farmers return to the valley in September after the summer in the mountains.  They go along steep and and often centuries-old pathes, for example the Scala Mola alpine,  constructed  in 1645 in the rocks of the Filmstein.

The farmers and cows in Graubünden are the heroes of the day when they arrive in their villages.

(Source: J. Mathieu, Die Alpen. Raum, Kultur, Geschichte, Stuttgart 2015).

Sinfonia d’aua in Flims

Sinfonia d’aua in Flims consists of six small hydropower plants. It shows how nature, technology and people interact and function.

The project includes natural phenomena and systems, ecological electricity production, sustainable drinking water use and multifunctional infrastructure for snow-making.

For thousands of years, the water in the limestone has sought new ways and created a widely branched underground system.

The two largest lakes in Flims – Lake Cauma and Lake Cresta – are fed underground. Lake Cauma also has no above-ground drainage, and the water level varies up to seven metres per year.

It is a groundwater lake. The light scattering creates the natural turquoise blue on small inorganic suspended particles. The unique colour and idyllic location make Lake Cauma world-famous. Point Gronda is the visitor centre.

(Further information: www.wasserweltenflims.ch).

Anabaptist Path

The Anabaptists recognized and practised only the baptism of adults, advocated a strict separation of church and state, and renounced all forms of violence.

The Anabaptists were persecuted, and many fled to Germany, the Netherlands or to America. Others fled to the heights of the Jura, which then belonged to the diocese of Basel.  There they made their living mainly through agriculture.

Anabaptists are today called Mennonites. The Anabaptist path follows the way they took when they fled to the Jura. The path leads to secret meeting points, inscriptions and the Anabaptist archive of documents, books and objects.

(Source and further information: www.reformation-sh.ch/taeuferweg).