by Dianne Dicks and Katalin Fekete
illustrations by
Marc Locatelli
photographs by
Emanuel Ammon / AURA
© 2007 by Bergli Books
Illustrations © by Marc Locatelli
Photographs © by Emanuel Ammon/AURA
Text by Dianne Dicks and Katalin Fekete
Published 2007 by
Bergli Books
Rümelinsplatz 19
CH-4001 Basel
Switzerland
Tel.: +41 61 373 27 77
Fax: +41 61 373 27 78
e-mail: info@bergli.ch
www.bergli.ch
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior
permission in writing from Bergli Books, CH-4001 Basel.
E-Book ISBN 978-3-905252-44-6
In memory of
Angela Joos
1958 – 2005
the bookseller of Basel
who always enjoyed finding
just the right books for
children of all ages
Thomas and Susy have just moved to Switzer-
land. They promised their Uncle George back
home that they would write to him right away
to tell him about their new life and what kids
do here. They find it is such a confusing place
with so many different languages and view-
points. Their parents are new to it all too, and so
busy with the move that they have little time to
find out about the country and how things work.
Fortunately, Susy and Thomas meet Angela on
their new playground. She becomes a friend
like they've never had before. She loves reading
books and enjoys finding interesting and fun
things to tell Thomas and Susy about Switzer-
land.
Together they go through piles of Angela's
books, explore the country, share experiences
and discover all the essential things kids living
in Switzerland need to know. Here's how it all
began . . .
Are you new here?
Hey Fritz! Did you see some
new kids have arrived?
Susy and Thomas! You promised you'd
write to Uncle George right away about
what it's like to live here.
There're lots of kids on the
playground. They could tell you what
to write to Uncle George.
You're wasting a beautiful day.
Turn off that TV!
Uncle George will complain if you
don't know anything about life here!
Unlce George wants to hear from you soon!
I TOLD YOU TO GO
OUTDOORS!
Hi! Are you new here?
Yes and we've gotta write
to our Uncle George back
home to tell him what
Switzerland's really like.
It's like in the stories
of William Tell
and Heidi, right?
What's so funny?
Those are just stories. They
aren't true. Great stories but
they don't tell you much about
Switzerland today.
But they are in books!
And life is just like it was
back home, isn't it?
Probably, but if you live here
you need to
know lots more.
Prehistoric people
Well, let's start at the beginning.
Who discovered Switzerland?
Stone Age
(150,000-4,000 BC)
In the 'Old' Stone Age (until
15,000 BC) people were living
in caves above glaciers, as
findings of skeletons show.
They made tools of flint stones
and hunted and gathered all
kinds of berries and plants.
When the climate became
milder, there were more for-
ests. Then, during the 'Middle'
Stone Age (15,000-8,000 BC),
people started hunting small
animals, caught fish and picked
berries. They also made pottery
and produced more sophisti-
cated tools and weapons.
Columbus,
right?
During the 'New' Stone Age
(8,000-4,000 BC) people
started farming and domesti-
cating animals. They settled,
built more permanent housing
and crafted more specialized
tools like ploughs.
The
Vikings,
right?
No,
the Romans!
Lakeside settlements
(4,000 BC-500 BC)
In the 4th millennium BC,
people in what are now Neu-
châtel, Biel, Zug, Zurich and
Constance started building
houses on stilts on the edge of
lakes. The lakeside dwellers
went hunting, fishing, grew
grain and reared cows, sheep,
goats, pigs and horses, which
they used as working animals.
Pre-Romans and Romans
The Romans
The Helvetians
121 BC: the Romans conquered
the territory of the Allobro-
ges on Lac Léman.
58 BC: they overthrew the
Helvetians living in the
western part of the country.
After 58 BC: the country gradu-
ally came under the rule of
the Romans, who controlled
it until 400 AD. It was a
relatively peaceful time
with an improvement in the
overall quality of life, as the
Romans kept law and order.
5th c. AD: the Romans with-
drew to Italy.
2nd century BC:
the Helvtians migrated from southern Germany to
the northwest of Switzerland. They were one of
the many Celtic tribes living in Europe. They
were fierce, fearless fighters, skilled craftsmen
and excellent farmers.
The Rhaetians
400 - 500 BC:
the Rhaetians, a non-Celtic
tribe, settled in the eastern
part of today's Switzerland.
The Romansh language is
sometimes referred to as
Rhaeto-Romanic.
5th c. AD
121 BC
Prehistoric geography
Switzerland's landscape is very
diverse. It's got high moun-
tains, lots of rolling hills, plains
and plateaus, U-shaped valleys
and lots of lakes and rivers.
The Diavolezza area with Mount Palü
Hills around Menzingen, canton Zug
View from Weissenstein on the Aare
Juf in Averstal, canton Grisons
View from the Rigi over Lake Lucerne
But the landscape has not
always looked like this.
About 600,000 years ago, the
country was all covered in gla-
ciers. Most of the territory
of modern-day Switzerland,
especially the Swiss plateau,
was covered by a 500-1,200
meter-thick (1,640-3,937 feet)
sheet of ice.
Morteratsch Glacier canton Grisons
In the course of time, the gla-
ciers grew when it got colder
and receded when it got warmer.
During the interglacial periods,
glaciers were melting and people
started to settle down. But when
the cold periods came, people
packed up and left again.
These glacial and interglacial
periods lasted several 10,000
years each. The last ice age
ended about 10,000 years ago.
Glaciers left their marks on
the landscape. Valleys were
formed by erosion. Moraines
came about when deposits of
rocky debris were transported
by the ice and piled up to form
ridges.
When hiking around in the
countryside and the Alps, keep
your eyes open for pebbles,
rocks and even huge boulders,
so-called 'Findlinge', that look
different from those around
them. These different-looking
rocks were carried along by
glaciers miles from where
they originated.
Huge 'Findling' in Flüelen
Go to the Glacier Garden in
Lucerne to find out more about
the Ice Age.
Landscape
Switzerland is a tiny landlocked country with high mountains, valleys, rolling hills, rivers,
and lakes. Geographically, it can be divided into three regions.
The most photo-
graphed mountain
in Switzerland is
the Matterhorn!
(4,480 meters /
14,697 feet above
sea level)
In the area in
green
you find hills, a rolling
mountain range and the
watchmaking industry,
which produces the
world-famous Swatch
watches.
The part in
hilly region with many
lakes, rivers and exc-
ellent farmland. This
is the area where most
people live.
beige
is a
The
blue
part is where
the high, steep moun-
tains are, so there are
fewer people living here.
Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau are three of the highest mountains,
but the highest Swiss peak is the Dufourspitze at 4,634 meters (15,203 feet) above sea level.
Eiger
3,970 meters / 13,025 feet
Mönch
4,099 meters / 13,448 feet
Jungfrau
4,158 meters / 13,642 feet
And what's that
down there?
It looks like snow.
People built roads
to reach the other
side of important
but dangerous
mountains. First
they traversed
alpine passes
by mules, later
by horse-drawn
carriages and
nowadays by cars
and bicycles.
Are those pillars
fake or for real?
The Aletsch Glacier is the longest (23.6 km / 14.7 miles) and largest in the Alps.
It was declared a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 2001 and 2007. Other large
glaciers are the Gorner Glacier (14.5 km / 9 miles) and the Rhone Glacier (9.1 km
/ 5.7 miles).
Sheep traffic-jam on a trail in the Aletsch region.
You can find many caves in Switzerland. Hell Grottoes 'Höllgrotten' near Baar is
a system of magnificent dripstone caves where you can wander through lit
chambers and admire the fantastic limestone formations. 'Hölloch' in the Muotatal
valley is at 193 km / 120 miles the longest cave system in Europe.
That's the
Aletsch
Glacier, the
longest and
largest field of
ice in the Alps.
Cool stuff!
Pretty steep.
For real! The ones
growing upwards
are stalagmites and
the ones hanging
from the ceiling are
stalagtites. Caves
in Switzerland are
full of them.
Rivers and lakes
Switzerland is a landlocked country, but there are many rivers and lakes.
Most rivers originate in the Alps. The Rhine is the longest river in Switzerland.
Lakes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Lac Léman (584 km²/226 square miles)
Lake Constance (539 km²/208 sq mi)
Lake Neuchâtel (218 km²/84 sq mi)
Lago Maggiore (212 km²/82 sq mi)
Lake Lucerne (114 km²/44 sq mi)
Lake Zurich (88 km²/34 sq mi)
Lake Lugano (48.8 km²/18.8 sq mi)
Lake Thun (48.4 km²/18.5 sq mi)
Lake Biel (40 km²/15 sq mi)
Lake Zug (38.2 km²/14.8 sq mi)
Lake Brienz (29.8 km²/11.5 sq mi)
Lake Walen (24.1 km²/9.3 sq mi)
Lake Murten (23 km²/8.9 sq mi)
Lake Sempach
(14.5 km²/5.6 sq mi)
Rivers *
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
*
Rhine (375 km/233 miles)
Aare (295 km/183 mi)
Rhône (264 km/164 mi)
Reuss (158 km/98 mi)
Linth-Limmat (140 km/87 mi)
Inn (104 km/65 mi)
Ticino (91 km/57 mi)
distance to the border
Water is the country's most important resource. It serves as drinking water, for the production of
hydroelectric power and for leisure activities (swimming and refreshing boat trips).
1
2
3
4
The Rhine, which is used as a waterway for
transporting goods, flows into the North Sea.
The Inn meets the Danube and
then they flow into the Black Sea.
The Rhône flows into the
Mediterranean Sea.
The Ticino flows into the Adriatic Sea.
Paddle steamer on Lac Léman
Kids and adults of any age love to take boat trips on paddle
steamers, be it on Lac Léman, Lake Lucerne or on any other
of the many lakes in Switzerland.
View of the cityscape on the Lake of Lugano
View over Lake Lucerne from Mount Rigi
It's fun to hike in the mountains and to take pictures of the
stunning views.
The Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen
Europe's largest falls are impressive.
Visitors can watch the water cascade
down from viewing platforms or from a
boat at the bottom of the falls.
The castle of Chillon became famous
when Lord Byron wrote 'The Prisoner
of Chillon', a poem about Francois
Bonivard who was imprisoned in
the dungeon for four years. Have fun
exploring the famous dungeon, the
furnished rooms and the towers.
The Castle of Chillon, Montreux
Climate
When is it
going to
snow? I have
never touched
snow and my
mom told me
this white
stuff is cold
and fluffy. I
can't wait to
have a snow-
ball fight!
Well, you have
to wait a bit
longer. Winter
is still months
away. I can
show you in
this book what
it looks like.
Summer is a great
time because we can
play outside until it
gets dark. And some-
times, when it's been
really hot and sticky
all day, we get an
intense thunderstorm
with lightning that
cools things down.
Spring
The days get longer and
warmer. People feel invigor-
ated by the sunshine after a
long, cold winter and parks
and playgrounds bustle with
life once again. It may also
rain quite a bit, sometimes
even for days on end. Then a
thick gray blanket of clouds
covers the sky.
Summer
It's usually sunny and hot
during the day and stays warm
during the night. In summer
you can often spot clouds
like cotton wool balls or
cauliflowers in the sky. When
these clouds start towering,
a thunderstorm is brewing.
The best thing about summer
is the long summer holiday.
Schoolchildren get five to six
weeks off, depending on the
canton in which they live.
Waterspout
A 'Wasserhose' (waterspout)
looks like a funnel of air, about
100-200 m ( 656 feet) in di-
ameter, spinning around very
fast. You don't see it very often
in Switzerland, but there was
one not long ago over Lake
Constance.
Fruit trees blooming in
canton Zug
Cumulus clouds are fair
weather clouds that may pro-
duce light showers or rain.
Waterspout over Lake
Constance (August 2006)
Fahrenheit
Celcius
Why is it so
gray down
here and
where's the
sun? I feel I
have a cloud
hanging
over me.
Yes, that's
what it is. You
can't see the
sun because
of the fog. It's
gray and cold
down there,
but sunny and
bright up in
the mountains.
Autumn
The days get shorter and cool-
er again and the leaves turn
bright red, orange and yellow.
Be also prepared for windy
weather with heavy rains and
storms. Sometimes the storms
are severe like Lothar was in
1999, which caused mountain
slides and falling trees.
'Hochnebel' (fog)
From November to February
there is a thick layer of fog
sitting like a lid on lower lying
regions. Gray weather gets
you down, but you only have to
go up a mountain to be in the
sun again.
Winter
The days are cold and short,
snow falls, and some lakes
freeze over completely, so
children can go ice-skating.
Sea of fog, from the Üetliberg, Zurich
Records
TEMPERATURE: Highest: 41.5°C on 11 August 2003 in Grono (Grisons), where the average temperature usually
hovers around 25°C. Lowest: -41.8°C on 12 January 1987 in La Brévine, the Swiss Siberia. The average tempera-
ture for January there is -3.8°C (1990-2006). It is the lowest temperature ever officially measured in Switzerland
RAIN:The largest amount of rain that fell in one day was 414 mm (16.3 inches) in Camedo (Ticino) on September
10, 1983. The average amount of rain on a very rainy day is between 30 and 70 mm ( 1.2 - 2.8 inches).
SNOW: In April 1999, the amount of snow measured on Säntis was 816 cm (27 feet). The average amount of snow
from January till March that falls in the plateau is between 0 cm and 10 cm ( 0-3.9 inches).
HAILSTONES:The biggest hailstones found in Switzerland were 3-7 cm (1.2-2.8 inches) in diameter. They hit the
Gantisch region and the Emmental in June 2006.
Clouds and their messages
The cirrus clouds are feathery,
wispy clouds that predict fair
weather.
A nimbostratus cloud looks
like a thick black cloud cover-
ing the sky. It is a sign of bad
weather, so if you see one
of those ominous darkening
clouds, get your raincoat.
In December, when the sky
and all the clouds glow in a
soft pink, angels are said to be
baking biscuits.
Cirrostratus creates a ring
around the sun or moon and
brings rain or snow.
Cumulonimbus clouds are
giant heaps of clouds that
produce showers and thun-
derstorms.
The 'Föhn' is a warm wind.
When it blows, the view is
extremely good and the moun-
tains seem much closer than
they actually are.
It mainly occurs north of
the Alps and sooner or later
brings bad weather.
Warm, moist air rises to the
mountain tops and loses its
The 'bise' is a cold north or
northeast wind that usually
blows for an uneven number
of days (1, 3, 5 etc.). It can
blow at any time of year, but is
more common in winter.