Click
here to read up on the
history of the Swiss National
Day and
here to find out about the many August 1 celebrations taking
place in Switzerland.
You can listen to the Swiss National Anthem
here (choral in all Swiss national languages and
instrumental), and learn its lyrics.
Radio Volksmusik
Here is a link to
Radio Volkmusik, a site that plays traditional and
popular music over the internet, 24 hours per day.
Every day of the week. Enjoy.
If you like their music, and
I'm sure you are, leave a note in their
guestbook.
Züritüütsch
While reading NZZ Online, I came across an interesting
article about a new book on the dialect of the Canton of
Zurich Züritüütsch
für Liebhaber. The author, Heinz Gallmann, has
compiled an extensive encyclopedia on the dialect, or
rather dialects. It covers regional trends,
influences, etymology and includes maps and diagrams.
More information on the book is available
here and an
excerpt is also available. The book (600+
pages) will become available on September 24, 2009.
This looks like a great reference book for those who are
interested in Züritüütsch.
Everything DEUTSCH
Everything Deutsch, German Educational Products and
Gifts has provided quality German books, CDs and DVDs to
both children and adults since 2004.
An Alberta-based company, we are proud to be
considered a partner of educators, librarians, parents
and children as we work together to put the best German
resources in the hands of our customers.
Click on the image.
Move the mouse over the enlarged image.
Important Note for Travelers To The United States
of America
The Consulate of Switzerland has
sent us a note about an important change that came into
effect January 12, 2009, regarding travel to the United
States of America.
The following is a legally not binding
short summary for your convenience. More
information can be obtained from the links that are
provided, from your travel agent and from the
authorities. Travelers are required to obtain a
travel authorization via the
Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA)
prior to boarding a carrier to travel by air or sea to
the United States under the
VWP (Visa Waiver Program).
Swiss National Day
We're too far away to see the
magnificent fireworks that are launched on August 1
throughout Switzerland.
However, thanks to YouTube we can view them later.
This is a video of the 2007 fireworks that was recorded in Schaffhausen.
Sechseläuten
The Sechseläuten (Zürich German: Sächsilüüte)
is a traditional spring holiday in the Swiss city of Zürich
celebrated in its current form since 1904. The roots
of the festival go back to medieval times when the first day
of summer working hours was celebrated in the guildhalls
across the city.
The law proclaimed that work must
cease when the church bells tolled at six o'clock. Sechseläuten is a German word that literally translates into
"The six o'clock ringing of the bells". Changing to summer
working hours traditionally was a joyous occasion because it
marked the beginning of the season when people had some
non-working daylight hours.
Following the parade of the Zünfte (guilds), the Winter is burned effigy, in the form of
the Böögg, a figure of a snowman prepared with explosives.
Popular tradition has it that the time between the lighting
of the pyre and the explosion of the Böögg`s head is
indicative of the coming summer: a quick explosion promises
a warm, sunny summer, a drawn-out burning a cold and rainy
one.
On 14 April 2008, heavy rains soaked the
Böögg and the wood pyre materials so much that "firemen" in
the style of Fahrenheit 451 had to spray the pyre with
kerosene after initial ignition in addition to the 15 liters
of fire accelerant which was initially thrown on the pyre.
It took 26:01 minutes for the Böögg's head to explode -
which indicates a poor weather summer.
Source: Wikipedia and
YouTube
WirAuslandSchweizer
Here is an interesting new
portal website for Swiss clubs and Swiss
associations. You can enter a link to your club's
website. Entries are organized by country.
Webcams In Switzerland
Interested in seeing live pictures of
Switzerland. How is the weather right now?
SwissWebCams.ch has a very extensive list of webcams
located in Switzerland.
If you haven't
visited our own webcam list yet: it is
here.
A high-resolution map (Karte)
and aerial view (Luftbild) combo of
Switzerland is now available at
map.search.ch. Explore the above
insert or visit their
home page that includes many more
features. The insert above is centered
on the ETHZ in Zürich (Rämistrasse).
The insert is courtesy of Räber
Information Management GmbH, the operator of
map.search.ch.
New Book
One of our Swiss compatriots, Bernadette
Calonego, in Vancouver just published her second book "Under
dunklen Wassern". Take a look at her
web-site.
An excerpt of the book in Acrobat format is
here. While on the site, have a look at the first
book "Nutze deine Feinde" by this author.
There
are also many insightful
articles by Bernadette Calonego on her web site.
Schweizer Strassenpässe
Now there is book on the Swiss
mountain road passes. It’s the first book of this type.
Gotthard, Furka, Grimsel and all
the others - you know them. But do you know San
Vitale, Kundels or Les Agites?
The
book (in German, approx. 200
pages) describes 131 Swiss mountain road passes, from
the Mutschellen Pass (551 m, the lowest) to the Umbrail
Pass (2504 m, the highest).
The book cover shows, unless I’m
(webmaster) badly mistaken, the village of Gletsch at the foot of
the Grimsel Pass and the Furka Pass. The Rhône Glacier
with its characteristic shape and its melting tongue
(see
Newsletter - Fall 2005) is in the background.
Switzerland in High Resolution On Google Earth
Switzerland is now available in
high-resolution on
Google Earth. Fly over Switzerland and visit your
hometown or the next vacation spot.
Click on the image on the right to launch a
sequence of images.
Google News Schweiz
Google has launched a news service providing
around-the-clock news from Switzerland and from around
the world.
Click here to visit.
Swiss Alpine Music
Here is a link to
Swiss Alpine
Music, a site created by Swiss Radio International
(SRI). Learn about the Alphorn, Yodel and Swiss alpine
music and Swiss traditions in general.
A click on the alpine scene at
the top will transport you to the Swiss Alpine Music
site in Switzerland.
Explore the site and you'll
find a page from which you can send a musical e-card.
For music, chose one from the available selection or compose
your own Alphorn melody on-line and send it to a
friend.
Muggestutz and d'Haslizwäärgleni
In our
Fall 2006 Newsletter, you can read the story of
Muggestutz and the dwarves of the
Haslital (Haslizwäärgleni). As the story goes,
the dwarves have now left the
Haslital.
However, they have kept up with the times and their
stories and
music can be found on the internet.
Swiss Cuisine
As you may know, the Edmonton Swiss Society has received
special permission from
Betty Bossi Verlag in Switzerland to
reprint Betty Bossi recipes in our
newsletters.
You may not know that Betty Bossi Verlag
celebrates the
50th anniversary this year.
Happy Anniversary, Betty Bossi.
Have a look at their
excellent site. You may be interested to know that
subscriptions to the Betty Bossi magazine can be
delivered to Canada (by surface mail or by air mail) at
attractive rates. It is available in German and in
French.
Return to Switzerland
The Consulate General of Switzerland in Vancouver has issued
a message of interest to people returning to Switzerland.
The message is available
here in Adobe format and
here
in Macromedia Flash format.
Swiss National Library - SwissInfoDesk
A question about Switzerland ? : SwissInfoDesk
SwissInfoDesk is an
exciting tool for researching relevant information about
Switzerland on Internet. The Swiss National Library offers this portal
now in four languages :
English,
German,
French and
Italian.
SwissInfoDesk gathers the most relevant links on Swiss topics such as
history, geography, culture and languages. Sport, economics, politics
and education are also developed. These topics are regularly updated.
Information scientists from the Swiss National Library put together
these links, chosen for their pertinence. A short comment explains the
content of the site, facilitating the search for information on the
Internet. Searching with SwissInfoDesk is much more efficient than
searching with a search engine.
More than a portal, SwissinfoDesk is also a Virtual Reference Desk :
the Helvetica Information Center proposes a reference service online
open to libraries and users with a request form online. Every request
will receive a reply in a short delay (48 hours) without any cost under
30 mn!
On The Lighter Side...
A new insight: "Wie
es wirklich war" (in German). An enjoyable weblog on the
lighter side. Enjoy.
Diese Musikschule bietet
die Möglichkeit eines echten Live - Einzelunterrichts
über das Internet an. Der Unterricht erfolgt in
deutscher Sprache. Es wäre doch ganz toll wenn das
Schwyzerörgeli öfters auch in der grossen weiten Welt
erklingen würde!
Web site by