It is situated two hours far from Freiburg or one hour far from Basel by train. This journey supposed the entrance to the true Switzerland.
The only problem we found since we went into Switzerland until we returned to Germany was the bad weather. It was a pity, as you can imagine that in a country where the nature is so important and where you expect to find fantastic landscapes, the rain and the clouds could spoil your plans. The green and the blue are turned into sad grey. Indeed, during our first phase across Switzerland we didn't see neither a mountain nor the sun despite it was summer. Literally the clouds were so low that they covered the mountains. Resigned as the days followed one another, we decided to visit the cities, where it is no so important that the day is grey to enjoy the stay, thus reserving the nature for later.
One of the best options of the Interrail is the possibility of changing the plans while you travel, so we did it. After 4 cloudy and rainy days we decided to go back to Germany and try our luck again at the end of the trip. Fortunately we got it and we spent one of the best days in Jungfrau and Lauterbrunnen. But I will tell you about it afterwards.
The Swiss cities (Basel, Zurich, Luzern, Bern, Geneva) that we visited have a very similar aspect: the old town divided in two by the river, with wonderful sightseeing, surrounded with fabulous landscapes and mountains, nearby a lake. Switzerland has less than 8 million inhabitants and there are no huge cities. The biggest one is Zurich, which doesn't exceed the 400.000 citizens.
Zurich is the biggest urban centre of Switzerland and the financial heart, full of banks, insurance companies, offices and companies. This favours the enormous cultural and leisure variety that the increasing population of the city and the surroundings has available. The town is crammed with pubs, cinemas, restaurants and concert halls, and therefore there is an offer for every liking.
The millionaires around the world deposit here they money encouraged by the strict banking confidentiality. Despite Switzerland is the country of the banks and the confidentiality, and although it circulates much money and the life quality is high, there is a non-negligible poverty level and an increasing unemployment.
The citizens have a reputation of tolerant and hospitable. Indeed the city has always been a refuge for dropouts and excluded people. They keep a strong ecologist feeling, reflected in the great number of people who move by bicycle.
During the 13th century merchants and artisans launched the city's growth. Since then and until now, the citizens won a reputation of enterprising and efficient. In the 14th century the artisans took the power by expelling the noblemen. In 1351 Zurich joined the Helvetica Confederation. From 1525 the Reformation is introduced in the town by means of a priest called Zwingli, who fought against the indulgences, the celibacy and the tight relationship of the nobility with the Church.
Since then the town housed the Protestants who escaped from the religious prosecutions, mainly from France. Due to that the silk trade exploded during the 16th century, and therefore the city experienced an incredible development of the textile industry which reached the maximum level and richness in the 18th century, when many important figures gathered in the city: philosophers, architects, bankers. Among them Goethe is one of the most outstanding. During the 19th century it welcomed the adversaries of the European absolutist monarchies. The university was built. At the beginning of the 20th century outstanding figures such as Lenin, Trotsky, James Joyce, Einstein or Thomas Mann resided here. Zurich became the centre of the psychoanalysis development. Even in 1896 se the first gay magazine was published. You realize that this is a multicultural and cosmopolitan place where every person of any condition is accepted.
Although you may be fed up with so much history, I think you should know about a key episode of the Swiss and European history, the Protestant Reformation. To better understand everything you will see throughout the country, it is recommendable to know some basic things about what happened, as you will find the signs at many spots.
The Reformation is the religious movement that shook the whole Europe during the 16th century, when a great part of the continent refused to obey the Pope, giving birth to the Protestant Church.
In 1517 the Augustinian monk Martin Luther published in Germany, at the university of Wittenberg, his 95 thesis against the catholic indulgences. In 1520 he expounded his doctrine and the Pope excommunicated him. The Lutheranism, supported by the German princes, spread across Europe and caused the apparition of new Reformation tendencies such as those initiated by Calvin or Zwingli.
The Reformation settled deeply in the centre and north of Germany. It extended beyond the frontiers until the Scandinavian countries and England (where this movement turned into the foundation of the Anglican church in 1534). Zwingli made that the Reformation invaded Zurich in 1525 and Bern in 1528. Farell and Calvin drove the Reformation to Geneva and Basel. Geneva became the centre of the Reformation due to the Calvinism, which caused a re-emerging of the Protestantism previously decimated in the Netherlands by Carlos V of Spain.
To sort out the situation the Counter-Reformation was born in Spain and Italy, the less affected countries, by means of the Emperor Carlos V and the Pope. The Trent 's Council was created to revise the situation of the Catholicism, and they agreed a new modern spirit that led to the foundation of a new religious order called Jesuits. Despite the new catholic air managed to reconquer some zones, the major part of the protestant territories kept their positions.
A consequence of this religion restlessness was the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), a religion war as well as a politic war that reached the whole continent and that didn't change much the situation.
The Swiss Confederation kept neutral during this war and they reached an agreement between the Catholic and the Protestant cantons. As a result of this, nowadays in Switzerland there is a mixture of Catholics and Protestants, and since then they kept this neutral and independent nature so characteristic of the country.
We couldn't enjoy fully the visit, as the rain was very heavy.
The old town is divided in two parts by the river Limmat and there are wonderful viewpoints at both banks. The city is located nearby the lake Zurich. |
