[needforsneed]

22 April 2018 at 3:23:16 #815459

Hi Everyone,

We will be based in Lucerne for a few days and one of the days will take the train to Thunersee area via Bern. Prior to this we will have come from Montreux on the Golden Line through Interlaken. Having been on those 2 routes we are looking at a different route to return to Lucerne from Thun. Does anyone know anything about the route through Konolfingen and Wolhusen? Is the scenery worth the extra half hour?

Thanks!

Mark

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[rockoyster]

22 April 2018 at 7:12:44 #882887

Via Konolfingen and Langnau is very lovely rural Emmenthal country-side I am led to believe. Do it.

[Slowpoke]

22 April 2018 at 8:22:27 #882888

Hi Rockoyster-

<<“Via Konolfingen and Langnau is very lovely rural Emmenthal country-side I am led to believe.”>>

I would certainly be one of the leaders for that opinion.

You are more likely to see Emmental spelled without the “h” in Switzerland, by the way. 😉

Slowpoke

[rockoyster]

22 April 2018 at 9:28:45 #882889

Learning, learning. 🤓

[Removed user]

23 April 2018 at 0:10:50 #882890

>> Learning, learning.

It’s sometimes easier to remember if you know why something is the way it is.

Emmental is a compound word consisting of three elements:

• Emme (the name of the river)

• Tal = valley

• n = an element binding both words (often because it makes pronunciation easier)

So you end up with Emmental = valley of the Emme (river)

Most other words you see with -tal at the end will be a valley. Those with -see at the end will be a lake.

And now you would like to learn some more, right 😉 (Well, you could pretend!)

I got the following info from a website called swissworld.org in 2011. This domain no longer exists, so I can’t link to it.

The names of countless Swiss towns and villages hint at the nature of the country.

• Place names that contain the syllable -berg indicate a mountain, those in -bühl, -egg, -halden or -rain point to a hill.

• A name containing -moos indicates a swamp, while -ried was a reed bed.

• Fields also occur frequently, as in -acher, -feld, -matt or -wang.

• Ticino has many place names containing words such as campo (field), prato (meadow), piano (flat) or monte (mountain).

The names in French-speaking Switzerland are harder to recognise, since the words have developed in different ways. But

• praz/pré indicate a meadow

• chaux is a rocky field

• sax/sex/scex are from a word for rock.

While names ending in -wil or -weil derive from farmsteads, many others contain hidden reminders of how hard the early inhabitants had to work to clear the land in the first place.

• Rüt(l)i, Schwand(en), Brand, and Stock all relate to ways of clearing the ground

• In Ticino names like ronco and arzo also refer to ways of clearing the land, by digging up the wild vegetation or burning the trees

• The French equivalents include variations on essert, cierne, breuleux, or ars.

And for something on the amusing side: a peak at Glacier 3000 is officially called Sex Rouge (red rock). The company operating the cable car there renamed it in their promotional material and on their website “for touristic reasons” as Scex Rouge!

That info came from the Swiss Government site http://www.geo.admin.ch/, but is no longer online.

Alpenrose

[rockoyster]

23 April 2018 at 0:21:24 #882891

Hi Alpenrose,

A wonderful tutorial – thanks so much. The Glacier 3000 Sex Rouge would be a passable name for a brothel I would have thought. Clear why the changed the name.

Am I correct in thinking Glacier 3000 is a company rather than an actual place? Always struck me as an odd name.

[Removed user]

23 April 2018 at 0:27:22 #882892

>> Am I correct in thinking Glacier 3000 is a company rather than an actual place? Always struck me as an odd name.

Yes, according to Wikipedia, it is the name of the company that operates the cable car. The term is used in marketing, much like “Top of Europe” for the Jungfraujoch. The “3000” part probably comes from the altitude of Sex Rouge/Scex Rouge, which is 2,971 metres above sea level.

Another example of incorporating altitude into a name for marketing purposes is the youth hostel at Saas-Fee, which markets itself as Wellness Hostel 4000. Marketing material for Saas-Fee frequently promotes its views of about 13 peaks of around 4,000 metres.

Alpenrose

[Removed user]

23 April 2018 at 15:00:22 #882893

Hi Alpenrose

Thanks for that tutorial on place names. I knew most of the German derivations but not the Italian or French ones.

Maggie

[Removed user]

24 April 2018 at 0:47:04 #882894

Hi Maggie,

Glad you enjoyed reading it!

Alpenrose