by Gabrielle Cavegn
I love travelling, I always have and probably always will. But there were times in my life when it was not possible, due to jobs, having small children, pets, caring for parents or terms of illnesses. This taught me to enjoy even the smallest of excursions, and a day trip became a real adventure. Now that I am retired and the children are grown up, I’m up for new places to explore. Even if it’s just around the corner here in Switzerland.
My OBOD studies have awakened new interests in me, and it seems each day I find something new I’d like to learn more about and to visit. But there are places too that I have known since childhood and that are especially dear to me. They are not the most famous attractions in Switzerland although maybe some are known abroad too. Others you probably have never heard of and nor have most Swiss people. What unites them and makes them special is their unique energy they hold for me. Some are of exceptionally rare natural beauty; others speak of ancient cultures or the rich history of my home country. Among them are the most scenic Swiss landscapes, stone circles, museums, historical sites, works of art and culture, places of healing, ancient trees and Celtic burial sites.
I know there is so much more to see in this beautiful country, but I’d like to share 11 places with you that I have visited within the past two years due to my studies with the OBOD and that hold a special magic and meaning for me. As my husband has his own musical playlist called “Roger’s choice”, I’d call this list of mystical places “Gabrielle’s Choice”.
For public transportation see: www.sbb.ch
Central Switzerland
All places are within easy reach of Zürich, mostly accessible by public transportation. In this part of Switzerland, the main language is Swiss German/German, but English is understood in most places (as everywhere in Switzerland).
Bruno Weber Park, Dietikon
This amazing park is the life’s work of artist Bruno Weber (1931 – 2011). His fantastic sculptures merge with nature and his mystical beings and buildings transport you in a world that might as well be the land of the fairies. His guiding principle was that the world of fantasy exists as well as the real world. On the doorsteps of Switzerland’s biggest city, Zürich, he created a counterpart to the urban world of technology and commerce. His park is a unique place that unites art and nature in perfect harmony.
The park is open all year round and has his own charm when covered in snow (as it is today while I’m writing this), but please check the opening times on the website. The park can be reached by train and cable car within 40 minutes from Zürich Main Station.
Emma Kunz Centre, Würenlos
Very near to the Bruno Weber Park, you can find another well hidden gem: the Emma Kunz Centre. It is situated in the Roman Quarries of Würenlos and is a place of art as well as of healing. It consists of a museum and Grotto that both can be visited all year around. For the Grotto where the healing energies can be felt by many, online bookings are required. Please check the website before planning your trip. “May this place of strength become a meeting place where cultural, spiritual and healing accomplishments come together”. This was the vision of Emma Kunz (1936 – 2017). As an alternative healer, she trusted in energetic and spiritual powers and her prophecies and successful healings attracted wide attention. Visible testimony of her research about universal energies are large and strongly geometrical drawings she created with the hep of a pendulum. Those can be seen at the museum. As it says on the website, I felt the peace and quiet of the place and the sphere of subtly working intellectual power.
The centre can easily be reached by train within 40 minutes from Zürich Main Station: There’s also a connection between the Emma Kunz Centre and the Bruno Weber Park that takes about one hour by bus and train.
Lenzburg Castle and Old Town
Lenzburg is a small medieval town with a very impressive castle. I grew up here and still live nearby. For me, it’s the most perfect place to live. In the small town you find a lot of independent shops and restaurants. The castle I took for granted during my childhood is a rather impressive fortress and has its own cute little dragon. A visit takes you back in history and many events, such as medieval markets, attract people from all over Switzerland and neighbourly countries. But only when I read the book “Landschaften der Göttin” (“Landscapes of the Goddess”, unfortunately available in German only) from Kurt Derungs (www.derungs.org) , I looked at all those familiar places with newly awoken interest. “Landscape Mythology” and “Anthropology of Landscape” are terms of field of study advocated since about 1990 by Kurt Derungs. He describes it as an interdisciplinary approach to landscape combining archaeology, ethnology and mythology. In the book mentioned above, he compares the landscapes of Avebury/GB, Silbury/GB, Lenzburg/CH and Sion/CH as places of the early Goddess Cult in Europe and traces of this time can be found in many places in and around Lenzburg. If you are interested in this subject, you might like not only visiting the castle (www.schloss-lenzburg.ch) but the following places too:
Kleiner und Grosser Römerstein (Small and Tall Roman Stones
The names of these ancient stones are misleading, and they are probably much older and have been used for rites to honour the Goddess much earlier than when the Romans arrived. They are also mentioned by Kurt Derungs, and he believes they play an important part in the whole picture of the “Lying Goddess” and the landscape mythology of Lenzburg. They can be found in the Lindfeld and Lindwald north of the Old Town (about 30 minutes’ walk). You leave the Old Town left at the Hotel Krone, crossing the main road and heading in direction of the Mehrzweckhalle. Following the small road that heads directly to the wood, you can find the Small Roman Stone (which for me personally holds more energy than the Tall one) on the left-hand side about 10 minutes into the woods. Following the path, you come across an ancient Roman Theatre right next to the highway. There’s a small underpass amidst the fields before you enter the woods again. There you find signs that lead you to the Tall Roman Stone in only a few minutes. Head back the same way.
www.ssdi.ch/Inventar/AG/5600.01.pdf
Museum Burghalde
This small museum at the edge of the Old Town could easily be overlooked although it has been nominated for the “European Museum of the Year Award” in 2020. You can discover archaeological highlights of the region as for instance pile dwellings from the nearby Hallwilersee (lake of Hallwil) or parts of a Neolithic burial ground that was discovered between the castle hill and the Gofersberg in the holy lap of the Goddess where all life comes from and returns to. There is also a Pop-Up-Exhibition about old tales of dragons, treasures of gold, witches and ghosts that lived in this area. It’s called “Sagenzauber – lebendiges Erzählgut”, where love of storytelling and uncanny insights meet.
www.museumburghalde.ch Lenzburg can be reached by train form Zürich Main Station within 20 to 30 minutes.
Wildegg Castle
Very near to Lenzburg, there’s another impressive castle. Wildegg is not a fortress like Lenzburg, but a baroque castle with beautiful gardens. All the rooms can be visited, and an audio guide tells entertaining stories of those long-gone times.
What’s most impressive though are the large vegetable and herb gardens with species that outside rarely exist anymore. Pro Specie Rara is a non-profit foundation with the aim to maintain and enhance the cultural-historical and genetical diversity of plants and animals. Once a year in May, there’s a well-known seedling market at Wildegg castle. You’d better be early, because the interest in these rare plants is amazing and ever increasing!
Outside the walls of the castle, there’s more to discover. A small footpath leads under very old lime trees that are covered in mistletoe towards the nearby forest and to the grave of the countess Marie Louise St. Simon-Montléart. A little further up there are three more graves under Yew trees that are seldom found in Switzerland. A very mystical place with a peaceful ambiance. Fortunately, most visitors stay inside the castle and its gardens and miss this hidden treasure.
If you have time for a hiking tour, you may choose to climb the Chestenberg (Chestnut Mountain, 648m) in direction of
Brunegg. The tour takes about 1 ½ to 2 hours and you pass the remains of a Bronze Age hill settlement. With a little luck you can even find real Chestnut Trees that normally grow only in the South of Switzerland. From Brunegg, a short bus ride of about 20 minutes takes you via Möriken Gemeindehaus back to Wildegg station.
If you happen to visit in winter, there’s a three-day long Christmas Market at the castle. It’s very atmospheric and a wide selection of handmade items can be bought at the stalls in the castle court and typical Swiss food as Fondue Dogs (cheese fondue in a hot dog bun) or Advents Bratwurst (sausage with Christmas spices) can be tasted. There are guided tours inside the dark castle at night with flashlights only. Very romantic and only a little scary ;0).
Wildegg can be reached by train from Zürich Main Station within about 40 minutes. A walk of about 20 minutes leads up to the castle.
www.museumaargau.ch/schloss-wildegg.ch
www.prospecierara.ch
www.moeriken-wildegg.ch/leben/freizeit/natur/chestenberg.html/451
www.moewikultur.ch/wiehnachtsmaert.html/170
Hexenmuseum Schweiz (Museum of Witchcraft Switzerland), Gränichen
At the exit of the village Gränichen near Aarau, the pretty castle Liebegg looks over the valley of the Wyna, the small river that gave it its name: Wynental. It houses the extraordinary museum of witchcraft led by Wicca Meier-Spring who is well-known not only in Switzerland but in England too, where she spends much of her time in and near Glastonbury. The unique exhibition shows many artefacts and rare treasures that Wicca has collected all her life. The prosecution of witches from medieval to modern times is explained in detail and with much care. The museum is the only one of its kind in Switzerland and attracts many visitors all year round (check homepage for opening hours). There’s a cute little shop where one can find candles, incense, jewellery, and many more selected items that make the heart beat faster for everyone interested in a little magic.
During summer, there’s a cafeteria al fresco on the large balcony amidst the old treetops that surround Liebegg castle. Hot and cold beverages are served with homemade cakes under large parasols and between planted herbs that spread their spicy scent. Don’t miss the large selection of herbal teas or the locally produced mead!
On the way back to the train station or parking lot, you might like to visit the impressive caves just a few steps into the woods on the right-hand side before you reach the farmhouse. Between 1820 and 1860, they were used for gaining sandstone for building, but today it is a favourite place for picnics and sometimes even concerts.
The Museum of Witchcraft can be reached by train from Zürich Main Station via Aarau to Gränichen/“Bleien” (stop on request!) within 50 minutes. A short walk of about 20 minutes across the main road takes you through fields and forest up to the castle. Please note that children under 11 are not allowed to the museum.
Linde (lime tree) of Linn
Linn is a small village south of the mountain pass of the Bözberg that belongs to the Jura range. It’s part of the “Jurapark”, a regional nature park of national significance. On the edge of the village and right next to the bus stop, you can find the “Linde von Linn”. Her age is estimated 800 years. She’s about 25 meters high and the circumference of her scarred trunk is an impressive 11 meters. She’s an old and dignified lady and likes to be treated with due respect. Take a rest on the benches in her shade and feel her majestic and calming presence. Many tales are told about her, one of the oldest trees in Switzerland.
There are many beautiful walks in this area with splendid views to the valley of the Aare on one side of the Bözberg and to the valley of the Rhine on the other. In the Sagenmülital next to Linn you can find an old quarry and a scenic little waterfall. In the nearby woods, autumn crocus plants bloom in the shade of Juniper trees in autumn.
Linn can be reached from Zürich Main Station by train via Brugg and bus within 52 minutes.
www.aargautourismus.ch/erleben/kraftorte/linde-von-linn
www.jurapark-aargau.ch/
Celtic Burial Mounds of Unterlunkhofen
Unterlunkhofen can be reached from Zürich Main Station by train and bus within 40 minutes. Leave the bus at the stop “Breitenäcker” or “Gemeindehaus”. An easy hike of about 1 ½ hours takes you up to the edge of the woods called “Bärhau” from where you have a beautiful view over the valley of the Reuss and the Flachsee (home to many birds and rare plants as for instance the sweet grass). The 63 Celtic burial mounds that are right at the entrance to the woods is the biggest early Iron Age cemetery that has ever been discovered in Switzerland.
I have visited the site during winter on an icy but sunny day. The floor was covered in a thin layer of freshly fallen snow. If I hadn’t known, I probably wouldn’t have recognized the site for what it is. But then the atmosphere was very quiet and peaceful, and I felt the presence of the ones that had walked this place in ancient times before.
Clay jars, arm rings made of silver and finely worked bronze pendants have been found in the graves. They can now be admired at the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum Zürich (right next to the main station).
www.bremgarten-tourismus.ch/de/freizeit/natur/keltengraeber
Part Two to Follow…