They say we are judged by the company we keep. Let’s look at some of the people who have kept company with the Rhine Falls: It never ceases to amaze me how often in history great changes begin with only one individual. Before 1548, the Rhine Falls were relatively unknown. There was (and still is)… Continue reading The Grand Guestbook
Category: Travel
Wolves in sheep packaging
“No one could tell me, but I learned something else about Schaffhausen, a tiny curiosity of history. The town was bombed by American aircraft in 1944. (See Oops! Did we do that?) The Americans insisted that it was a mistake – a bombing force had lost its way and, thinking it was still over Germany… Continue reading Wolves in sheep packaging
Problems with Paul
Paul Edward Theroux (born 10 April 1941) is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known works are The Great Railway Bazaar and The Mosquito Coast. I have never read his novels as travel writing has always held a greater fascination for me, but I have read and own most that he has written… Continue reading Problems with Paul
The company that couldn’t
Neuhausen am Rheinfall is a municipality in the Canton of Schaffhausen just south of the cantonal capital, Schaffhausen. It has a population of nearly 11,000 people. Despite its location beside the Rhine Falls, Neuhausen is primarily an industrial city. “We came along a filthy street between forges and mills right through to the Falls. What… Continue reading The company that couldn’t
The cards we’re dealt
The Swiss, especially the German-speaking Swiss, always have to be different. Consider playing cards. The Swiss German speaking part of Switzerland has its own deck of playing cards. They are mostly used for Jass, the “national card game” of Switzerland. The deck is related to the various German playing cards. Within Switzerland, these decks are… Continue reading The cards we’re dealt
Five schillings’ worth of wood
A witch-hunt is a search for people labelled “witches” or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic or mass hysteria. The classical period of witchhunts in Europe and North America falls into the Early Modern period or about 1450 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years’ War, resulting in an… Continue reading Five schillings’ worth of wood
The vicar and the vagabond
The mirror of these trusting, brown eyes Is like a reflection of gold from deep inside; From the bosom’s depths it seems to rise Where such gold on holy grief thrives. In the darkness of thine eyes I bury myself, It is thou who invites me, Unknowing Child— Thou wouldst have me ignite the fires… Continue reading The vicar and the vagabond
Song of the executioner
As I slowly walk across Canton Schaffhausen I come across a number of small hills that bear the name “Galgenbuck”(Gallows Hill). The cantonal capital Schaffhausen itself was a Reichstadt, an imperial free city, meaning it was directly subject to the Holy Roman Emperor and no other government. He granted it the privilege of being allowed… Continue reading Song of the executioner
Follow the money, Dennis
In the movie V.I. Warshawski, Kathleen Turner as Vicki Warshawski, explains that the first rule of detecting is to “follow the money” if you want to know what the reality of a situation was. In Schaffhausen, I had looked at where the money wasn’t… (See Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution.) So I then began to look… Continue reading Follow the money, Dennis
Do we need another hero?
A hero or heroine (Ancient Greek: ἥρως, hḗrōs) is a person or character who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, displays courage or self-sacrifice — that is, heroism — for some greater good; a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.… Continue reading Do we need another hero?