weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

This second set of winter first lets us have a glance at an old Hospitaller Commandery in my hometown Hohenrain, harking back to the time of the crusades of the European Knights into the Holy Land. Next we view a rural area near the village of Neuenegg in the canton Berne where we visited friends and took a short drive in their area with a great view into the Bernese Alps. The second area encompasses a number of wintry spots in the "Jura Park" above Aargau's cantonal capital Aarau, with 20 km / 12 miles fairly close to the border between Switzerland and Germany.

Note: This is not a high altitude/high snowfall area, thus in these first days of January 2017 there was not more than a light dusting of snow in most places, which didn't hinder some kids in the Jura Park to take out their sleds and enjoy a run on the grass/snow mixture. BTW, I am using the image in #9 as my Christmas card for this year as I didn't really produce any suitable pictures of winter scenes last winter.

Notes
TRIP INFO: Set # 1 provides a brief introduction for this mini-series. Please use the link below if you would like to review this intro:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-717310-1.html

MY ONLINE ALBUMS: If you are interested to see more photos of this series, I invite you to view my albums on my photo website. Access my website with the link below, then click on the tab "Albums-Chronological" on top, this post is part of the album "Nuggets of Switzerland 2016-5-Wintry Splendor" in the upper part of the list, flagged as NEW. I suggest you click on the link "Short" to see a truncated set of photos, as the "Full" version is quite lengthy and contains some near duplicates.
Link: www.weberwest.weebly.com

EARLIER POSTS of this series: Access my topic list at UHH, the new posts are listed in reverse chronological order:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/user-topic-list?usernum=45105

Thanks for visiting, I recommend viewing the downloads and look forward to your comments and questions.

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1 - Hohenrain/LU - View from the village up to the Hospitaller Commandery first mentioned in 1182/83: The main buildings are the striking "Turm Roten" (red tower) at center right and the church of St John the Baptist with the slender tower

(Download)

2 - Neuenegg/BE - Forestry road near the hamlet Sürihubel

(Download)

3 - Neuenegg/BE - Hamlet Sürihubel with the houses displaying the typical Bernese flared roof lines

(Download)

4 - Neuenegg/BE - Interesting wavy ground lines from plowing accentuated by a light dusting of snow at the Hamlet Sürihubel

(Download)

5 - Neuenegg/BE - Farms at the hamlet Brüggelbach and view into the Bernese Alps

(Download)

6 - Möriken-Wildegg/AG - Castle Wildegg (early 13th century)

(Download)

7 - Oberflachs/AG - Castle Kasteln, built ~ 1200

(Download)

8 - Thalheim/AG - On the road from Thalheim towards the Staffelegg Pass: Frost-covered trees on the Schenkenberg

(Download)

9 - Erlinsbach/AG - On the Saalhofstrasse heading towards the Saalhöhepass: Forestry road near the hamlet Hard

(Download)

10 - Kienberg/SO - On top of the Saalhöhe pass at Waldgasthaus Chalet Saalhöhe: Outdoor sculpture partially covered by snow

(Download)

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Map of the north-central part of Switzerland identifying the places covered in the winter section of this series

(Download)

NMGal Loc: NE NM

Great set, Joe. Noticed some town names end with -“egg”. Does that mean something? Your home town looks like a good place to grow up.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Love number five!

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Lovely winter set, Joe.

angler Loc: StHelens England

Superb set Joe.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thanks for your appreciation Barbara! Great observation and great question! - I had to look it up to be sure - my first reaction was to say that it probably has something to do with the German word "Ecke", which means corner. But to be sure, I googled it and found out that my hunch was way off. Here is what I found:

"Egg in the German speaking part of Switzerland describes a landform.

According to the “Kleiner Sprachatlas der deutschen Schweiz 5th edition”, Egg means a steep slope below a flatter extension above, that gives way into a valley below. It has nothing to do with a “corner” - the German “Ecke” - that would be called “Egge” in Swiss dialect. That is NOT the same! An Egg could also be called “Abhang” in German. The origin of many of these place names is mostly unknown. A surprising number of place names in Switzerland are of celtic origin, others of course are alemannic and even latin from the Roman times.

Egg could mean something else in Austria and Bavaria, where it is also very common. So it is quite hard to establish what this famous Austrian guy’s last name truly means:

Schwarzenegger could mean “The guy from the black slope” - or The dark guy from the slope! A significant part of the alpine population in Switzerland and Austria tan very well, have brown eyes and dark brown hair.

The landforms in Austria and Bavaria are rather similar to what you see in Switzerland. In the old times, last names were only used in a few large cities and among nobility. Once it was established, that everyone must have a last name, people just would make one up as needed. Professions, physical descriptions, and place of origin were commonly used."

Similarly, a good number of places in Switzerland end with the suffix -wil, like in Ballwil, the place where I grew up. That ending comes from the German/Allemanic word "Weiler" meaning hamlet in English and the roots of Ballwil are actually Baldovilare, the hamlet (or village ...) of the noble man Baldo. It is very interesting to delve into the origins of many of these town names. - Glad you observed this and asked the question, Barbara!

PS - One more interesting distinction Barbara: In Switzerland we distinguish between the "hometown" and a place where you grow up. The "hometown" is the place of origin of the family and may be passed on from generation to generation, even though you actually have never lived there. And this is so in my particular case: My family "hometown" is Hohenrain, which I showed in the first picture. The place where I grew up is Ballwil, a neighboring village. Thus it can be confusing to read my text when I sometimes refer to Hohenrain as my howntown, but then mention that I grew up in Ballwil - and this is the explanation.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you Bill, interesting that you like #5, that is really quite a nice view into the Bernese Alps. I am always intrigued by #7, the setting and structure somehow reminds me of a Japanese castle, like for instance Osaka castle, though of course this Swiss castle is much smaller, but it also perches high up and has that sort of forbidding mien.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you Mike, glad to hear that you like this "Winter-Light" version of Switzerland.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thank you Jim for your kind words, I appreciate your input!

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Great set and narrative, Joe.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

Thanks Ken, happy to hear that you enjoyed both.

NMGal Loc: NE NM

[quote=weberwest]Thanks for your appreciation Barbara! Great observation and great question! - I had to look it up to be sure - my first reaction was to say that it probably has something to do with the German word "Ecke", which means corner. But to be sure, I googled it and found out that my hunch was way off. Here is what I found:

Thank you so much for the explanation, Joe. I found it very interesting.

weberwest Loc: Ferndale WA

[quote=NMGal]

You are very welcome Barbara - even in my old age I am excited that I can still find out new information about my old native land - thanks for keeping me going!

junglejim1949 Loc: Sacramento,CA

Great winter set Joe, thanks for the share...Jim