Guggisberg
So, you may wonder where I was last week… I was in Guggisberg. A somewhat remote village with a 850 years plus story and the story of the “Vreneli”. The Vreneli story from the Guggisberg is going back to 1600 something with a folksong, that was interpretated many times, two interpretations you find below (links to follow).
Thus, the Vreneli story…no happy ending, be warned. She was from the sunny side of the hill, young and without parents. He, Hans-Joggeli, was from the shadow site of the hill, poor, but obviously handsome. So they fall in love but then… she was not supposed to marry him but rather the son of an influencal guy from the next village. Hans-Joggeli and the other guy met in the woods, there was a fight, of course, as men do not tend to discuss things. Thus, Miami Vice like they fought and the bad guy fell unconscious. Hans-Joggeli thought he had killed him and run away, joined a foreign army and left his Vreneli all by herself. Back then, being a soldier was one of the few options Swiss guys had when not inheriting their parent’s farm… So he fought and our Vreneli got so depressed that she died soon…
I visited the Vreneli museum in Guggisberg and learnt that Hans-Joggeli returned after a few years, maried twice and reached the phenomenal age of 93!
Guggisberg is doing its best in marketing with this Vreneli story, you find Vrenelis kind of everywhere and there was an entire Annabelle (Swiss fashion magazine) featuring Guggisberg and living on the country side of Switzerland. I think, Guggisberg has done the best it could and is an example of excellent marketing, in the sense of identifying a unique advertising proposition and then stick to it….
Bottomline:
Don’t die of desperation because your lover left you…he will come back.
Don’t fight…talk it over.
And…Guggisberg is worth a visit: I sniffed the most phantastic rose right next to the Vreneli museum…lily of the valley dressed as rose. Amazing!
So here are the Vreneli songs links, I hope they work:
And here is the link to the Annabelle, featuring (German) the village.
Picture: http://www.genealogy.com
August 28th, 2006 at 1:11 pm
Lordy, Andy-
That is lovely! It takes my breath away…
[Alas, no pictures of livestock…how I love those cows and goats!
Others travel and photograph marvellous landscapes- me, I come back laden with farm animals…”and this is a Frisian cow, and right here is a cow from Orebro…”]
I hope you are restoring the spirit and loving the fresh air!
August 28th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
Dear Chayaruchama
I sure loved the fresh air, and the view in the evening (golden sky over crisp-green grass…) and there were quite a few cows around, too. And sheep! I love sheep. Their smell reminds me of days back in my home village.
August 28th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
Funny you should mention sheep…
My boys call me the “sheep whisperer” at country fairs, because I not only have to scrutinize every one, but massage them and sing to them as well [thank God I have a very tolerant family !].
I grew up in the inner city, but have spent a lot of time on farms, and I love all those smells.