Welcome to GRUETZI.COM, displaying photos of Switzerland by Ralph Walker, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Swiss Photos: Everything Else


I tried to re-make a 1956 Nat'l Geog. photo (see below) but discovered that the photographer had taken the shot of the Quai-du-Mont-Blanc from his hotel room window, inaccessible to me, so I took this from ground level. The steamer is the Helvétie, built in 1978. When you click the link below you will see the vessel Genève, built in 1926 and converted in 1977 to dielel electric propulsion. Note that the two boats, built 52 years apart, are nearly identical. Incidentally, an American, Edward Church, launched the first Swiss lake steamer in 1823. There are 90 miles of shoreline for these 'excursion steamers'.

Click to see same scene in 1956. Details are found in the preceding photo's alternate text.

Lake steamer motor on display at the Swiss Transport Museum, Luzern, 1998

Trammelbach Falls in the Lauterbrunnen valley, 1999. Falls are inside a mountain and are illuminated with colored lights. Unretouched photo using 16mm lens and 1/8 second exposure.

My favorite structure in all of Switzerland, the Bauernhaus von Osterundigen at Ballenberg Open Air Museum, 1999. The upper windows are 'trompes d'oeuil' (painted).


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