MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Switzerland quiz 2 – cantonal borders
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Answers to the bonus bonus round question, which was “Name the two Swiss cantons and the two French départments that had land swaps in 1960 !“
One was a land swap between the Canton de Neuchâtel and the Département du Doubs, and the other was beween the Canton de Genève and the Département de la Haute-Savoie. Both of these were ratified by the Swiss federal government on June 30, 1960 and came into effect on December 1, 1960. These were both very small modifications to the borders, in one case moving a “borne” a distance of 2.24 metres !
My next Switzerland quiz will involve the word exclave, so people might want to look up the difference between an enclave and an exclave: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclave_and_exclave Something to do while so many people are staying at home these days. I will also pose a question about a place in Switzerland that was a pene-exclave.
My reply to ‘Victoria’ was not a reply to Victoria, but the forum was in and out that evening so my post went wrong. As you know, this forum doesn’t enable one to delete a post if it goes wrong.
Yes, my bonus round is about a swap between Switzerland and France. It looks like it is not one of the one you were referring to so I have now given part of the answer – ie it was between Genève and Ain.
<< My reply to ‘Victoria’ was not a reply to Victoria, but the forum was in and out that evening so my post went wrong. As you know, this forum doesn’t enable one to delete a post if it goes wrong. >> Since you did not follow up on your “No” to Victoria, which you are now saying wasn’t a reply to her, does this not mean that you did not say her answer was incorrect ? If you see that a post has gone wrong, there is nothing stopping you from following up with a corrective post, and I humbly suggest and encourage you to do that so other followers of this thread (or any other thread) will not misunderstand you.
As you may recall, Victoria answered with a link to a place in the north of Switzerland, called Büttenhardt, and I suspect that she felt she was wrong after the “No” post. I actually think she was on to the correct answer, as I had come up with Verenahof, which is now part of Büttenhardt. There was a land swap treaty between Switzerland and Germany in 1964, which came into final effect three years later. Verenahof was a German exclave in Switzerland.
Here is a bit about Verenahof from the Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verenahof
Time for the answer to my question, which is that land was swapped between Genève and Ain to facilitate the extension of the Genève airport runway for jet aircraft. The Ferney Voltaire – Grand Sacconex road was put into a tunnel which I have known since I was a kid
The hamlet of La Limite was expunged, but one building remained on the Swiss side of the road tunnel
Such an interesting name, La Limite. Sounds like a fitting name because of its location. Perhaps we should start a thread about places in Switzerland with interesting names. One I like in the canton Vaud is a place called Envy. I took a photo of the sign for the town. It seemed to have bubble-gum over part of it and I was going to fix it with Paint. Can’t find it right now.
Another name I find amusing is over in the Schwarzwald, a place called Aha. Another photo I must find.
Does anybody else have some interesting Swiss place names they would share ?
There is Zmutt, near Zermatt
Egg near Zurich.
Here’s another one, le Moron (a mountain) in Berne, close to the border with Jura. Elevation 1336 metres. At the top is an observation tower, la tour de Moron, designed by Mario Botta, a well-known Swiss architect. I have attached a map of the area as well as a photo of the tower. A good place to visit once all this Covid-19 pandemic is a thing of the past.
I would say some of the names on your list are somewhat off-colour. I won’t even mention them by name. After all, we must respect the high standards of this forum. Furthermore, I don’t see what is so “hilarious” about the name of Rapperswil. Seriously, there are oodles of place names in Switzerland that end with “wil” (not to mention Wil itself). There are also plenty of ones that end with “berg” and “heim” and “ikon”. Only Marie-Thérèse Porchet is allowed to make fun of places that end with “kon”.
<<I would say some of the names on your list are somewhat off-colour.>>
There are quite a few Swiss place names that amuse English speakers for more ‘delicate’ reasons but I’m not going to mention them here.
I think the amusement is meant to be the ‘Rappers’ part (as in Rap as a music genre)
<< I think the amusement is meant to be the ‘Rappers’ part (as in Rap as a music genre) >>
Well, I guess that is a real knee-slapper ! I suppose the name Rockport, a town in Maine, USA, is amusing (as in Rock as a musical genre) as well ? I hope not. If somebody finds the name Rapperswil “hilarious” or even “amusing” that is their choice, but that wasn’t the intent of my original question/suggestion. I was looking for Swiss place names that had the exact same spelling as regular English words. That said, I did like the name Bad Egg, although it is just a sign showing the road to their (the good people of Egg) beach (Schwimmbad) on the Greifensee.
The other place I was going to mention is Misery, in the canton of Fribourg, although since 1997 it was fused with some neighbouring communes and is now part of Misery-Courtion. See attached map, c/o Swisstopo.
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Just found another interesting name while digging up some information about another wooden covered bridge. It is a commune in the canton of Aarau (Argovie) called Sins. Attached is a photo coming into Sins from the north on the Bremgartenstrasse. Note that in the photo is also the large catholic church for all the local Sin(s)ners, the Pfarrkirche Mariä Geburt. The second photo is next to a round-about on the south end of Sins. Straight ahead to Sins through the circle.
I stopped at a Misery in France once and my wife and I took pictures of each other with the village entrance sign
Rapperswil is slightly amusing if you read it as two words, eg Rappers will go to a Rap gig
Great photo you have there. I have never been there myself but you got me thinking about other possible signs at their train station.
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Here’s another commune with a name that is exactly the same as an English word. It is Nods in the Jura Bernois, pretty well directly below the Chasseral on a plateau called le Plateau de Diesse. It came to me as I was reading about and watching a news video about the clearing of the snow on the road up to the Chasseral. http://www.rjb.ch/rjb/Actualite/Region/20200416-La-route-du-Chasseral-liberee-de-son-manteau-neigeux.html. Attached is a Google image of the sign as one approaches Nods (and also slows down to 40 k/hr) on the road from Lignières (NE) and also an aerial photo showing Nods with the Lac de Bienne down below.
Attached are also two images c/o Swisstopo. The first locates Nods (red circle) and the tower at the top of the Chasseral (small blue circle). The second is at the very same scale but instead an aerial image. Here one can see the location of Lignières NE as well as that of Nods, and also the tree-line below the summit of the Chasseral, and the extent of le Plateau de Diesse. Lastly a small photo (c/o Wikipedia) looking from Nods up towards the Chasseral.
Lastly is a link to the Chasseral panoramic camera. chasseral.roundshot.co/ One can see Nods directly below in line with the view of Lac de Bienne (Bielersee). A bit to the right one can see Lake Neuchâtel and between them, further back and mostly hidden by Mont Vully, Lac Morat (Murtensee).
Oops, just found a photo that I really should add. It’s a photo taken from the far side of le Lac de Bienne (Bielersee) over to Ligerz (check out the church surrounded by vinyards), Prêles up at the top of the ridge and then the snow-covered Chasseral in the background. Nods cannot be seen in the photo as it is on the Plateau de Diesse which is totally out of sight.
As soon as I posted the last photograph in the above post, I realized that I had made a typo, so I am hoping Arno can replace it with this one, with the correct spelling. Thank you.
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