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The Red Cross, the Reformation, and the Olympics.


By SPP Reporter

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Lausanne is a great city; it has a town crier, and has had one for 611 years continuously. It has the biggest fresh water aquarium in the world, and a superb hotel that has just reopened after a major upgrade (Spring 2016) and it is THE place to be in the City. It is the Royal Savoy Hotel. It is an art-deco style magnificent building and inside the rooms and corridors have high ceilings, ornate plasterwork, and that indefinable air of quiet luxury. There are many more attractions in Lausanne, but the one that impresses is the Museum of the Olympics.

The land mine monument in Geneva
The land mine monument in Geneva

This Museum celebrates the founding of the International Olympics Committee by Pierre Coubertin in June 1894, and thus the start of the modern Olympic Games, the first of which took place in Athens in 1896. There is a prominent statue of the man at the top of the great stair case (there is wheelchair access) that leads from the lake side up to the entrance. There is 8000 m2 of green space here, containing 43 sculptures (some of which move apart, turn round and reform again!) and 5 sports installations, where you can practise various Olympic sports yourself.

The museum building has three floors, containing thousands of objects, such as the full range of Olympic torches, 59 medals from 1896 through to today, 150 audiovisual devices and 7 hours of stories in many places. It is very interactive, and children are spell bound here. You can enter a typical Olympic village and test yourself to see if you are fit enough to take part. While I was there, on the 29th of April 2016, there was a small ceremony taking place by the entrance, where there is a large Olympic flame device. A party of 4 Brazilians had arrived with the Olympic flame that they had brought from Mount Olympus, Greece, in a pair of what looked to me like highly polished brass Davy Miner’s Lamps. They made a small speech and carefully took a spill, lit it from a lamp, and ignited the flame. It was so surprising that it was such a low key event. Apparently, the flame goes directly from Greece to the country that is holding the Games, but this year, for the first time ever, it was diverting to another country, to Lausanne, where it would stay over the weekend to commemorate the founding of the IOC and the modern Games here. The Rio team said that on the Monday they were off again to Brazil, where they would spend the next 90 days touring 80 cities and 300 towns all over Brazil, before finally igniting the flame to start the 2016 Games. One of the men is very handsome, black glossy hair, tall, tidy beard, sexy, all the ladies who had gathered wanted their photos taken next to him – I hate him!! (Jealousy is not good – I know). Chatting to him, he said that he had a girlfriend back home, but wasn’t going to be able to see her for a total of around 120 days.

The upper floor of the Museum is the TOM restaurant. Here they serve a famous “Brunch”. This is not a brunch as we know it – it is a fantastic help yourself to as much as you want huge buffet. The tables look out over the lake and the French Alps on the other side. This is a very popular place to eat; they said that they were booked up for 3 week’s in advance most of the time! So – book early.

Moving reluctantly on from Lausanne, it is a short hop to Geneva. During the winter skiing season Easy Jet flew direct from Aberdeen to Geneva. This is a great service – just one flight, no changing in horrible Heathrow, and good prices too. Unbeatable! I just wish that it was an all year round service. The Swiss know that they are expensive now, with their strong Franc (or rather, our weak Pound or Euro!!) so they make it easy for us. When you collect your luggage at Geneva airport, there is a machine that issues you – free – a ticket for all public transport in the Geneva region for the day. This lets you get easily to your hotel. The hotels then issue you with another Pass, for the duration of your stay, for free public transport again. I stayed in the 4 star Hotel Warwick. This is opposite the main city centre railway station (trains from the airport run every few minutes to this station called Genève Cornavin) and just 7 minutes walk from the lake. At the station, the trams and buses connect (I’m sure that if we tried just a little bit harder and focussed on making public transport user friendly and not just a profit opportunity we could do this in the UK), and so the hotel is ideally situated for exploring the city.

The cathedral in Geneva
The cathedral in Geneva

There is so much to explore! The old town rises up the hill to the Cathedral. They still call it a Cathedral even though the Reformers turned Geneva Protestant by a show of hands in the square here in 1536. The Cathedral is having on-going excavations into the ancient origins of worship on this site, and you can visit the diggings. Next to the Cathedral is a plain wee church where our very own John Knox from Edinburgh preached, and where today the Church of Scotland holds services. The reformation brought massive changes to Geneva. Persecution of Protestants elsewhere brought refugees flooding into the city from France, the Netherlands, Italy, and also Scotland!!. If you are needing a break about now, just round the corner in the Grand Rue is the “Brasserie Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville”. This is a typically French style café / restaurant, open 7 days a week. Very professional staff will happily and efficiently serve you with anything from a cup of tea to an excellent full meal. When I went to pay, I inadvertently gave a Euro note. No problem – I saw my mistake, and withdrew it – no problem – what money do you have sir? We will do a conversion. I can’t imagine that happening here in the NE.

Well refreshed, go round to the Museum of the Reformation.This was the Maison Mallet. The Reformers demolished the Cathedral cloisters in 1536. Mr. Mallet built this mansion on the site in the 18th century. It was opened as a museum in 2005. Looking back from today’s point of view, it was a seismic event in the history of Europe, based on politics and differences in religious views, which do not seem important enough to have caused such massacres and wars. It is a fascinating story that unfolds as you go round the stately building. There are guided tours, in English, or free audio guides to take around if you prefer. In total there are 14 rooms, plus the shop and small café. It was Guillaume Farel who was the first Protestant preacher, and after the people had voted to evict Catholics (and even burned a Spanish doctor at the stake with green wood so that it would be a slow death) they invited Calvin to come to Geneva. He was French, but has since become linked with Geneva, which even calls itself “The City of Calvin”. The wars of persecution across Europe brought skilled refugees to Geneva with many consequences. One was that there was not room for them! The population doubled and trebled, so the old houses still show the hurriedly built extra floors as the city grew upwards. Another was that these skilled people brought the watch making industry to Switzerland, which is still so vital today. Actually, they brought jewellery making with them, but the draconian rules of the Protestants forbade ostentation and fancy clothes, so they turned to watch making, as fancy watches were acceptable. Don’t miss the Patek Philippe Museum www.patekmuseum.com to see watches from the 16th to the 20th century. The immigrants also brought, especially from Italy, silk manufacture, and banking – another staple of the Swiss economy.

Wall of the Reformation, Geneva
Wall of the Reformation, Geneva

Continue down the hill to the massive Wall of the Reformation. This is built into the old city walls, in the grounds of the University of Geneva (founded by John Calvin to teach Protestantism). It is 100 metres long, and in the centre are four huge 15 metres high statues, these are Theodore Beza, John Calvin, William Farel and our very own John Knox holding his famous Bible that he translated into the vernacular and was able to reproduce thanks to the new printing presses that had become available. To the left are 3 metre high statues of William the Silent (what a great name!) Gaspard de Coligny and Frederick William of Brandenburg, to the right are Roger William, Stephen Bocskay and our Oliver Cromwell. There are many bas reliefs on the wall explaining or illustrating events and icons. It is an impressive sight indeed.

For a complete change, go to the Museum of Ethnography. This is a striking building, made from lozenges that let diamond shaped panels of light into it, but do not detract from the concentration if you are there to study. The whole building is extremely environmentally friendly, using hardly any external energy at all. There are 5 floors containing 80,000 + objects from 1500+ cultures of our planet. In 2016 there are special displays on the Amazon people, who are relentlessly being squeezed by industrial developments, and their population is in serious decline. The “Archives of Human Diversity” contains over 1,000 objects from all 5 continents. The library also has thousands of recordings of human voices, songs, and music from all the different people of our earth. It is an eye-opener to the variety of us humans.

Birdie food and caffee, Geneva
Birdie food and caffee, Geneva

After this visit, if you’re needing a break (although there is a café in the Museum) go round the corner to the Rue Des Bains to “Birdie Food and Coffee”. I like companies that have what they do as their trading title – it says it all. Too many have to come up with stupid words, like our Royal mail did with “Consignia”. Birdie is quite new, run by two very enthusiastic young men who focus on serving excellent food, tea and coffee. They insist on traceability of their coffee beans back to the individual farmer, and so ensure that he or she received a fair price – and they cut out as many middle men as possible, again to ensure best prices and quality.

There are many, many more great and interesting and thought provoking places to visit in and around Geneva, like seeing where Empress Sissi was stabbed on the lake side as she was getting onto the paddle steamer “Genève”. The story of the Empress is fascinating – but for another article another day!! The “Genève” is now tied up as a restaurant on the other side of the lake – accessible by the yellow boats that shuttle around – included in your Geneva card as they are public transport too of course! You pass by the famous “Jet D’Eau” the water fountain that has become a hallmark of the city, which started of as a safety valve for the water supply that fed the workings of all the watchmakers, when they finished for the day, relief for the water pressure came through a valve – and today it is a feature on its own.

Leaving the best for last, take a tram to the International Quarter – called “Nation” on the destination blinds. The trams turn round here, so you cannot miss it. There are so many huge buildings here for all the many institutions, humanitarian mostly, that make Geneva such an international centre. Walk up the hill a little towards the Red Cross, Red Crescent Museum. On the way you will see open parkland with a stately mansion, this is the Ariana Museum. It was purpose built at the end of the 19th century by Gustave Revilliod as a ceramics, glass, coins, and engraving museum, and donated to the city. The collection outgrew the mansion, so since 1936 it has concentrated on ceramics and glass, with 22,000+ ceramic items from the Muslim world of the 9th century up to date, and 2,500 glass items starting from the 16th century Venetian golden age.

Geneva's Lutheran Church
Geneva's Lutheran Church

On your left now is the Red Cross Museum. Going through the Museum is quite a moving experience. A Swiss man, Henry Dunant, was travelling in Italy when he saw the battle of Solferino, 24th June 1859, between Napoleon’s French army, and the Sardinian army, against the Austrian army. On that one day over 40,000 men were killed or wounded. There was minimal care for the wounded, most of whom subsequently died from simple wounds that could be easily cared for. Henry worked with local people and purchased supplies himself and took care of as many wounded men as was possible. He was appalled at the lack of care for these men. On his return to Switzerland he started campaigning, and in 1862 five men started a Committee which developed into the Red Cross (the Swiss flag in reverse.) In 1864 the very first Geneva Convention for the treatment of prisoners and wounded soldiers was signed. The Red Crescent came about because of a war involving Turks, who said that the cross represented the Christian enemy, so the Red Crescent organisation was formed. There is actually a third flag and symbol, the Red Diamond; this is only used in Israel at the moment, where the cross and the crescent are possibly the “other side” to Jews.

The Museum was opened in 1988. There are free audio guides to take round with you. Holograms of 12 actual people talk to you as you near them (wonderful technology) and you cannot but be saddened by man’s inhumanity to man – heartened by the wonderful work that the Red Cross carry out every day – and frustrated that there is still such a need for them. “Restarting Family Links” is a key concern for the Red Cross. This started in earnest in World War 1. You can see the 6 million+ card indexes of prisoners of war. If you had lost track of your husband, son or lover, you filled out a card and gave it to the Red Cross who took it to Geneva. From the prison camps came filled out cards, and they were matched up and the links established to send letters. These letters, and parcels if allowed, brought tremendous cheer to the men in such terrible circumstances. They story continues with a wall of photos of children from the Ruanda genocide. If you could, you sent your children away to a neighbouring country. The Red Cross photographed all these lost children and in the majority of cases were able to link them again with parents, or other survivors of their family. The family unit is the basic building block of our society, vital to mankind’s well being and stability. The Red Cross do unbelievably great work. This Museum should be on everyone’s list of places to go and experience and reflect upon.

Switzerland has so much to discover, as well as the well known mountain sports, lakes, and scenery. Information and advice is available from the ever efficient Switzerland Tourism office in London. They can also provide access to the superb Swiss Travel System, and you can buy Swiss Travel Passes from them. These passes make life so simple. They cover all land and lake transport throughout the country (some special mountain railways only give a discount with the Pass, but all normal transport is free) and also gives entry to countless attractions – real value for money.


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