Longing for the landscapes of the Swiss Jura once made artists Adrian Zingg and Anton Graff fall in love with the fragile Elbe Sandstone Mountains, and Zingg painted a picture titled "Saxon Switzerland," which is said to have started the march of "Switzerlands" across the planet.
"Siberian Switzerland," "African," "Kazakhstan," or various "Little Switzerlands" – as Deutsche Welle notes, their number worldwide is approaching two hundred, roughly equal to the number of states in the UN. One could already create something like the Organization of United Switzerlands, but, as is known, the original Switzerland itself shows little inclination toward membership in international political structures and strategic alliances. It even joined the UN only in 2002 – after long discussions about its own permanent neutrality, whose traditions go back to the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
Of course, neutrality probably had and still has a positive influence on the willingness of residents of foreign countries to name their native landscapes after this small and proud country. However, the first "Switzerlands" entered common parlance back in times when Swiss could be found on the battlefields of various European wars – up to the Battle of the Berezina in Napoleon's army.
Mountainous beauties are a formidable force, and numerous noble, wealthy, and creative visitors to this country (especially the latter) over a couple of centuries contributed their share to shaping a cozy and romantic image of Switzerland – in personal stories, books, paintings, and musical works. If Switzerland did not exist, it would have to be invented to have something to compare with.
This comparison is not protected by copyright or other rights, although the authors are well known. The first foreign "Switzerland" owes its appearance not to foreigners but to two Swiss – artists Adrian Zingg and Anton Graff. In the second half of the 18th century, they were invited to Dresden to teach at the Academy of Fine Arts, just established by the then Saxon Elector.
In the vicinity of the city, Zingg and Graff were particularly delighted by the Elbe Sandstone Mountains (Elbsandsteingebirge), which reminded them of their native landscapes of the Swiss Jura. Nostalgia took over. Soon, one of Zingg's paintings created here was titled "Saxon Switzerland" (Sächsische Schweiz). The victorious march of "Switzerlands" across the planet had begun.
Adrian Zingg is considered the founder of the new Dresden school of landscape painting. Anton Graff was an outstanding portraitist of his time. His brush belongs to, among others, the textbook portraits of Prussian King Frederick the Great and writer Friedrich Schiller, and in 1796, by order of Catherine II, he made copies of a number of paintings from the Dresden Picture Gallery for the Hermitage.
Graff turned to landscape in the late period of his work, significantly influencing Caspar David Friedrich – the author of the most famous painting with a view of "Saxon Switzerland" – "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog," one of the iconic works of painting of the entire Romantic era.
It was during this period that Germans began to develop a particular interest in Switzerland. The reasons can be understood from the example of Friedrich Schiller's drama "William Tell," based on a Swiss legend. It best reflected their own search for national identity, as well as the desire of residents of fragmented German states for unity, freedom, and independence.
A vivid and colorful confirmation of German attention to Switzerland during this period is the unique collection of old stained glass from Swiss castles and churches, assembled by Prince Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau. It is now kept in the Gothic House of the Wörlitz Park – a UNESCO World Heritage site. The prince was one of the outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment in Germany, a dreamer and progressive ruler. He went down in history as the creator of the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm with the oldest German buildings in the classicist style.
The Swiss now seethe with envy when they see their stained glass in a German museum, collected by this German prince. On his orders, a special agent-antiquarian traveled through Switzerland. Many stained glass windows were saved from dilapidated buildings or bought up before their reconstruction or repair, and also needed restoration. Most of the acquisitions, by the prince's will, were then inserted into the windows of his private residence – the Gothic House, where they remain to this day, making a stunning impression not only on guests from Alpine regions.
Many of them, besides scenes from the legend of William Tell, depict the Rütli Oath – the national myth of Switzerland, telling how the first three cantons promised each other help and support in the 13th or one of the subsequent Middle Ages. The date of this event is still disputed, as is the fact itself.
Unsurprisingly, today's united Germany is the absolute world champion in the number of "Switzerlands" on its territory. According to strict calculations, 74 landscapes with Swiss traces in their names can be found on its unofficial tourist map. With a more generous and less scrupulous approach – about a hundred.
Besides "Saxon Switzerland," the most famous is Fränkische Schweiz – "Franconian Switzerland," located in the triangle between Bamberg, Nuremberg, and Bayreuth. Both regions are rich not only in natural beauty and delightful landscapes but also in architectural and historical monuments.
In the countries of the former Union, there are fewer "Switzerlands" than in Germany, but some have deep roots. For example, in Latvia there is a whole resort – "Livonian Switzerland," which gained European fame at the beginning of the last century and arose around the estate of the then vice-governor, Prince Nikolai Kropotkin.
A small "Switzerland" appeared in Nizhny Novgorod back in 1903 – a park laid out by local teachers and high school students. Over its history, it was once the Park named after the Leninist Komsomol, but now it again bears its original Alpine-romantic name. In the Altai Krai, around Lake Teletskoye, "Siberian Switzerland" stretches out.
In the United States, there are also quite a few of their own "Switzerlands," but most of them owe their names primarily to immigrants from that country. For example, Switzerland County in Indiana. The farthest "Switzerland" from the original is New Zealand, nicknamed the "Switzerland of the Pacific."