REGISTERED BY AUSTRALIA POST - PUBLICATION No. VBH 6369
THE
RO U CLU
20th anniversary of the Swiss Path and the Place of the Swiss Abroad
T
ABOU D N B
JUNE 2011
On the occasion of the 7th centenary of the Swiss confederation in 1991, a hiking trail – 35km long – was built around the southernmost end of Lake Lucerne, called Lake Uri. Each canton is allocated a section of the path and each citizen ‘owns’ 5mm of it. The Swiss Path starts on the Rütli meadow, the ‘birthplace’ of the confederation. It ends in the village of Brunnen, in a lakeside park called the Place of the Swiss Abroad. The Swiss Path and the Place of the Swiss Abroad symbolically connect the people of Switzerland with the 700,000 Swiss that live outside its borders. The purchase of the park and the establishment of the Place of the Swiss Abroad in 1991 was made possible through a word-wide fund raising effort by the Swiss Abroad and a generous donation by the confederation.
The spring session of the Council of the Swiss Abroad was held in Brunnen (see also page 20), coinciding with the official 20th anniversary celebration on Saturday, 9 April. The 100 delegates together with the people of Brunnen and many Swiss that came from around the world (among them Sydney Swiss community identity, Georges Teitler) gathered on this splendid spring day to celebrate, to listen to various speakers from local and federal government, tourism and the OSA, and to enjoy the magic view over the lake with the majestic mountain backdrop. An Alphorn-Quintet and the ‘Musikgesellschaft Brunnen’ provided musical entertainment. Following the festivities guests took a ride on the steamer ‘Titlis’ across Lake Uri to Isleten, from where many disembarked to walk a section of the Swiss Path to the Rütli meadow. The boat ride back to Brunnen marked the conclusion of a wonderful day, which renewed the connection and love for Switzerland in many of us. Editor
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