Philippe de Weck (photo: UBS)
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Philippe de Weck, who was the managing director of Swiss bank UBS from 1966-1976 and then head of the board for another four years, has died, age 90, in Fribourg. De Weck was the only head of the bank who has come from the French-speaking part of Switzerland. He remained a member of the board until 1988, after stepping down as chairman in 1980.
De Weck was one of a trio of experts called in to investigate the l’Instituto per le Opere Religiose, the Vatican’s bank, when it was faced with the Banco Ambrosiano scandal in 1982. He also served on the boards of several large Swiss companies, including Nestle and SGS.
He was born into a family that was part of Fribourg’s social set, a strongly Catholic society. His marriage to Alix de Saussure in 194 linked him to one of Geneva’s most notable Protestant families. He studied law in Fribourg and after working briefly in a law firm joined the family bank, Weck, Aeby & Cie, later bought out by Union Bank of Switzerland, which in turn merged with Swiss Bank Corporation to become UBS. The de Weck family is still active in banking today, with several members of the family involved in Geneva banks. Roger de Weck, his son, heads the Graduate Institute in Geneva.
The funeral will be Tuesday 15 December at the St Nicolas Cathedral in Fribourg.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Voters in canton Vaud decide Sunday 27 September if they want to create a single canton-wide police force that combines the existing cantonal police and the various municipal forces. Lausanne’s voters will also decide where to put two new stadiums that the city wants to build.
On the same day in Geneva, voters will decide yet again on smoking in public places, and they will vote on whether or not to lower taxes. Also on the ballot: a change in the annual automobile fee. The city wants to penalize carbon dioxide-emitting passenger cars.
Details:
Minister Doris Leuthard samples chocolates in Broc
Nestle master chocolate maker at work in Broc
Vevey/Broc, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Nestlé Monday 7 September opened its CHF25 million Chocolate Centre of Excellence in Broc, in the hills above the company’s home office in Vevey. A slew of dignitaries, including Switzerland’s minister for economic affairs, Doris Leuthard, and top company officials were present to underscore the unit’s importance.
The new centre is a research and production operation for Nestlé’s premium and luxury chocolate segment, but it “will influence the company’s entire chocolate range,” the company noted in its press release for the event.
Nestlé says that of its CHF9.8 billion in chocolate sales in 2008, some 70 percent came from local sales rather than the global brands for which it is well-known, which had sales of CHF1 billion.
Home, sweet (green?) home, Carouge, Geneva
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Homeowners grabbed at the chance to get energy certificates at a bargain rate, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) says, with 15,000 energy certificates sold in only three weeks following the announcement that a certificate and annexed expert report would cost only CHF200 instead of the usual CHF1,200. The cantonal building energy certificate (CECB) establishes the energy efficiency of a building and is useful as a guide to current and future energy use.
Lausanne 2009 - down to Earth and back to the books soon
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Canton Bern has decided to coordinate school vacations so they will in future be the same for children in German-speaking and French-speaking communes: this week the German-speakers started back to school and next week the French-speakers return. The decision about school holidays has until now been the perogative of the communes, rather than the canton. The cantonal education minister says the request for change comes from parents, who sometimes have children in more than one commune and who can’t coordinate family vacations.
That still leaves the problem of coordinating two-canton vacations for families with children in Geneva and Vaud, for example, particularly if they have children in private schools, where residence is less of an issue but cantonal public school calendars are sometimes observed.
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Two youths, who were 17 when they committed the crime, have been sentenced for sexually abusing two 14-year-old girls in 2008, in a case that was closely followed by Swiss media last year. One has been given a 10-month prison sentence and the other a six-month suspended sentence.
The case made headlines in part because the two were the oldest in a group that included seven others, all minors and about the same age as the victims, as well as three to four other young adults who are still awaiting trial. The ringleaders, one of whom was the target of the affections of one of the girls, are both from Serbia, and the case came to light during a period when the Swiss were considering tightening the law for offenders of other nationalities. They voted in favour of the law. The young man given a firm prison sentence had already had charges dropped in a similar case, but where the girl had consented to sex, but he also had a police record for damaging property and traffic violations.
Switzerland has the highest rate of foreigners in Europe.
A nice place to do business, Lake Geneva area
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Greater Geneva-Bern Area (GGBA) economic development agency was launched in Bern yesterday 2 July in an effort to sell the economic advantages of doing business in the region in a concerted and coordinated way. The GGBA joins the separate development agencies of Bern with those of Vaud-Valais-Neuchatel and the existing cooperation between Geneva and canton Fribourg.
© 2007 Vivre sans Fumer
Neuchatel, Switzerland (24 heures, Fre) – Smokers have invaded the streets outside bars and restaurants since the canton of Neuchatel banned smoking in all public places 1 April 2009. Smokers are unhappy. Some restaurant-owners too, reports 24 heures, although owners the newspaper spoke to say their complaints are tempered by the realization that some clients now stay longer after their meal, or come with the family. Bars and discotheques generally have nothing nice to say about the new law, reports 24 heures, and their neighbours complain that customers go onto the street to smoke, leave cigarette butts lying around and annoy the neighbours at night.
Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The long Pentecost/Whit weekend was marred by a number of deadly accidents in the area. In Neuchatel a 33-year-old Swiss woman drowned in Lake Neuchatel near Colombier 31 May, apparently after getting cramps while swimming. A 52-year-old man from Bex died when his glider crashed, for reasons that are not yet clear, near Gryon. He had left the airfield at Bex shortly before and was heading for the Vaud Alps.
Biel/Bienne, Jura, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Canton Jura will leave the Dews (Western Switzerland Economic Development) group at the end of 2009 to join the two Basel cantons (Basel State, Basel City) for economic promotion. The canton, in a press release, expressed its disappointment at the results of its collaboration with Vaud, Valais and Neuchatel. Dews will in any event be undergoing a change, enlarging to cover the rest of French-speaking Switzerland, including Bern, Fribourg and Geneva before the end of 2009.
Fribourg, Switzerland (20 Minutes) – A mother in Grange-Paccot, canton Fribourg, was shocked when her seven-year-old daughter fished an unused condom in its original packaging out of the French fries she had just bought at a nearby McDonalds, reports 20 Minutes.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The WHO (World Health Organization) remains undecided for the moment about the need to declare a swine flu pandemic, senior officials told journalists Monday. The picture that is emerging is one mainly of travelers to Mexico returning home and falling sick, but it is not yet clear the extent to which the flu is moving into the larger population, says Keiji Fukuda, deputy director-general at the Geneva-based organization. Daily update from the WHO, 4 May.
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Gregory Rast, Astana team, is wearing the yellow jersey at the end of the first day of racing in the Tour de Romandie. The climb from Montreux to Fribourg was cut short due to forecasts of snow, from 176.2 km to 87.6 km. The Col de Jaun, at 1,508 metres altitude, was left out of the race, which began at 15:00 rather than 12:35. Details, race stages (Fre)
Fribourg, to the left and up the hill: watch that pedal!
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Police in Fribourg stopped 106 cars in Fribourg Friday in the first of what they promise will be a series of major checks throughout the year. Spring brings speeders out, they note, and rader controls will be more frequent. Last week the French driver of a Ferrari caught at the highest speed recorded in the canton, 250 kph, was fined CHF70,000. He had a previous record for speeding in the canton, but only French authorities, not the Swiss, can take away his French license.
Title: Good Friday mourners parade
Location: Romont, Fribourg
Link out: Click here
Description: A traditional parade related to the Catholic holy week in which a group of mourners dressed in black have a procession carrying large crucifixes.
For further info: +41 26 651 90 55
Date: 11 Apr 2009
Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – One person died, another was taken to hospital by helicopter and is reported to be in serious condition and several other people were injured Monday morning when a truck and three cars were involved in an accident in Locarno, reports ats/20 Minutes. The crash took place on the autoroute ring road, which was closed to traffic while police cleaned up a large quantity of diesel fuel from the truck.
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A court in Fribourg 17 March sentenced six youths for their part in a gang rape case that is one of a series of crimes in three locations over several months. The crimes include assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, theft and refusing to come to the aid of an injured person, a handicapped man.
Delémont, Jura (RSR, Fre) – A second judicial investigation in the space of a week into young teenager girls being forced to have sex has come to light, this time a 14-year-old who appears to have been practicing fellatio on a group of boys close to her age.
Neuchatel, Switzerland (RSR, Fre) – Museum studies in Switzerland have received another boost, with an agreement between the University of Neuchatel’s museum studies programme and the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, a French higher education establishment.
- Other Train travels with Tara
- Click on images to view larger
Introduction: This is part of a series of mini-travel photo stories on Switzerland that will run for several weeks. A very special 16-year-old named Tara takes the train on Saturdays to explore the country where she has grown up. Her mother, GL editor Ellen Wallace, goes along for the ride.
St Maurice, Valais - the Rhone runs fast and turquoise
The end of November, start of December: snow as low as the shoreline along the Rhone River in canton Valais. The sun was out and it looked like we could expect a balmy but wintry afternoon, as we caught the train in Sierre, heading towards Lausanne.
There are two good ways to get to Bern since December 2007, through the new Loetschberg tunnel or along the Rhone. The first is slightly more expensive because it is run by a private company, although you can buy tickets through the CFF rail company.
Tunnels are boring (accidental pun) and I want Tara to enjoy the scenery, so we took the longer and cheaper route, via Lausanne.
The shades are partly down, but the sun streams into the carriage.
The Rhone valley bed is the heartland of the famous apricots of Valais, so we studied the neat little rectangles that make up the orchards, row upon row of short, tightly pruned trees.
We come here in July to buy large boxes of very ripe fruit, some of it to eat but most of it to turn into cathedral window jams. The jam was always good but about three years ago we learned a Valais secret: crack the pit of the apricot and crush the inner pit, which is akin to an almond, and add this to the jam for extra flavour.
In my haste to make sure Tara was well prepared for this first, longer trip on a train, I forgot to prepare me – a reminder for anyone traveling with a person who is disabled or who needs extra help. You’re more effective if you’re comfortable. Valais in winter tends to be sunny and dry. I forgot sunglasses. Tara prefers the easy solution and covers her eyes.
Fribourg fog
Fribourg traditional farmhouse
The minute we left the station in Lausanne, heading up the hill towards Palézieux, a chilly damp air began to creep in. The sun disappeared and, as so often happens in early winter in this area between Vaud and Fribourg, fog obliterated the countryside. I very much regretted not wearing a warm scarf.
Here is what I took in our bag: a change of clothes for Tara, who doesn’t worry about tidiness and doesn’t always understand about using public toilets; a large bottle of water, finely sliced dried meat from a recent trip of mine to canton Graubuenden (excellent for train trips), paper towels to serve as napkins, four sandwiches with cheese and hearty brown bread, three apples, two yogurts, a spoon, nuts and raisins.
Mittens for Tara even though she has never worn them in her 16 years – she likes to put her hands in her mouth and mittens or gloves annoy her.
sunshine, apple in December
Here's what the trolley man sells on the train.
I thought we were well prepared but by the time we had ridden through foggy Fribourg the food and drink was gone. Tara enjoyed the scenery, but she enjoyed the food even more.
We bought a small pannetoni muffin and a bottle of orange juice from the train trolley man, who spoke only Italian, it seemed. Cost: CHF9. My German is limited and rusty, but Swiss trains are a good place to practice your language skills, on things like counting money.
Bern turned out to be exciting for Tara. The station was, as always, crowded and bustling and loud. When she was younger such situations caused her to stop in her tracks, apparently a case of sensory overload, but as she gets older she is able to handle this better and the crowds pleased her hugely.
A large and jolly Santa Claus was handing out sweets in the centre of the station, but since Tara can’t hold out her hand and doesn’t see the point of pushing to the front of a line, he never spotted her among the more aggressive little people. It was just as well she didn’t know what she missed.
Bern, new bear park construction and rose garden in background
My goal was to take a one hour walk, then take a train home, so we headed for the old bear pits, which I vaguely remembered were under construction. I also wanted to see the newly unveiled Parliament building, but with Tara, trips need to remain simple, with limited plans. The Parliament would have to wait.
Our hike took us to the outdoor Christmas market, filled with shoppers buying everything from cheap trinkets to fine artisanal tree ornaments and expensive jewelry. My favourite bit was a section near the hot mulled wine table where you could buy Santa Claus suits of all kinds, including some pretty skimpy ones for Mrs. Claus.
Lower end of Bern's arcades, beyond the boutiques
The long walk to the old bear pits, down the lovely arcaded Kramgasse road, gave us much to look at. Store windows are bright with colours this time of year and the chic (and expensive) clothes, jewelry, artisan and furniture shops here make excellent window-shopping. My favourite place, though, is the bottom of the street, past the noise of the clock tower with its tourists and the shoppers, just above the bear pit, now being turned into a bear park. It’s a magical place near the bridge, where you stand above medieval rooftops, now spotted with snow, and look out and up at the Rosengarten park, where there are always people strolling.
Tara, like most 16-year-olds I’ve met, is not impressed by the adult obsession with scenery. She tolerated my comments about the lovely rooftops, then tugged on my sleeve to get me heading back up the street. Another 20-minute walk to the station, with Tara marching briskly among the crowds and then a lovely long ride back down through Fribourg as the light faded, warmed by a spinach tart and a Swiss hot dog purchased at the very affordable Migros carryout at the train station.
This was our first long trip, five hours of peace for Tara’s father, and an interesting journey for us.
Views from the train, 30 November 2008
Valais, terraced vines use every bit of arable land
Bern Christmas market entrance, brrr
Endless vines and orchards in Valais
Switzerland has many small, private train lines.
Guess what the Swiss were voting on?
Train spotting!
Real toy train, Valais, Switzerland
Western Switzerland (Le Matin, Fre and TSR, Fre) – Storms late Monday and during the night caused flooding and mudslides in several areas, with Bern, Jura Bernois and Fribourg hardest hit. The CFF rail lines were down on the Bern-Fribourg line early Tuesday morning because of a mudslide in Flamatt. Ponies were up to their chests in water that flooded their quarters at the Crémines zoo, before they could be pulled to safety, but tigers were the most panic-stricken, especially when large hail hit, Le Matin reports the zoo director as saying.
