Come Discover Switzerland's intellectual History with Globus
By: GlobusDespite Harry Lime’s assertion in Graham Greene’s “The Third Man” that Switzerland’s contribution to world culture is the cuckoo clock, there is a long tradition of artistic achievement in this tiny country of six million. In fact it is a country that so loves their artists that their profiles grace Swiss Francs rather than those of politicians. Many creative souls have produced some of their greatest masterpieces here and thrived on one of the world’s most beautiful and inspiring canvases.
T.S. Eliot wrote “The Wasteland” while living in Lausanne. Herman Hesse lived in the hills above Lugano for over 25 years. Other notable residents included James Joyce, Thomas Mann, Henry James, Voltaire, Dickens, Stravinsky, Vladimir Nabokov and Charlie Chaplin. Peter Ustinov lived in a hotel in Montreux and currently singers Tina Turner, Shania Twain, and Phil Collins call Switzerland home. It is a country with over 400 museums. In Zurich Kronenhalle restaurant was a famous haunt of expatriate writers and artists and the walls are full of work traded for meals. James Joyce regularly got the corner table and Giacometti, Chagall, Picasso and Miro are among the artists represented on the walls. In 2005 the Paul Klee Center opened in Bern to celebrate the work of the country’s greatest home-grown artist.
The cities of Vevey, Montreux and Lavaux, which lie next to each other along the banks of Lake Geneva, have published “The Poet’s Ramble,” a guide to famous artists who have lived in the area. Over 40 of the world’s greatest thinkers, artists and writers were inspired by the beauty of this land including Dostoyevsky, Rousseau, Hugo and Hemingway. The book is available through Switzerland Tourism.
We design our journeys around the stories they will tell. What story will you discover next with Globus and World Voyager ?