Have you ever wondered why there are so many British people on a holiday in Switzerland? I didn’t, until I came across an exhibition ‘The royals are coming’ in the Forum Schweizer Geschichte in Schwyz.
Recently I found this picture, which is from the British Royal archive. It shows us a group of wealth people, riding on ponies and covering themselves from the sun with parasols. In the front of the row we see Queen Victoria. She is accompanied by 4 of her children and a small part of her staff. The mountain they are climbing is the mount Rigi. The sketch was made by her daughter princess Louise. It is 1868 and her husband prince Albert had past away more than 6 years ago. Victoria is still morning about Albert sudden death at the age of 42. This trip to a foreign country was advised by her doctors. She had to get abroad to recover from her grief. Queen Victoria had agreed only if she could go to Switzerland. She had heard of the world’s first overseas package holiday that had been organized by Thomas Cook. A group tour to Switzerland, which included ascending the summit to watch the sunrise at Rigi mountain. And of course Victoria was familiar with the beautiful watercolour from lake Lucerne from J.M.W. Turner. The way Turner had pained the lake Lucerne and the surrounded mountains made her eager to see it herself. There was one other reason, why Queen Victoria wanted to go to mount Rigi. It had to do with the trip Albert once made. He had told her stories about the beauty of the Swiss mountains and especially the mount Rigi. A dried Alpenrose, Albert had given her from this special mountain. Victoria had kept this dried flower over the years as the most precious gift she got form her beloved Albert.
After a preparation for more that two years Victoria went as the Countess of Kent. Incognito, but that didn’t work, she had been recognized. As she arrived at the Lucerne train station, there were about 100 people gathered to welcome her. The local community had found out that she was visiting their city. Her different name did give her the ability to travel to places like Pilatus, Furkapas, Rohne Glacier and Engelberg in a quiet nice way. During her stay in the Alps, she began to sketch and draw people again, something she had rarely done since the death of Albert.
In the 1860s tourism in Europe and also in Switzerland had just started. “In a few more minutes we got to the Rigi Kalt Bad, an immense Hotel, where people stay. 2 or 300 people turned out, & as we passed under the Hotel, a Band struck up “God save the queen” & people fired off some little guns at a distance. But the people were very well behaved, & merely bowed, not cheering or following us.” This quote, from the journal of Queen Victoria on the day she travelled to the top of the mount Rigi, shows us she was not the only one there.
Queen Victoria’s five week trip affected the Swiss tourism industry deeply, it is now part of the exhibition ‘The royals are coming’ in the Forum Schweizer Geschichte in Schwyz. Her visit made the Swiss inhabits even more proud of their country. She documented her trip in paintings, sketches and a journal. She wrote full of enthusiasm about the beautiful landscape, the nice people and the healthy air. To keep Victoria’s visit alive nowadays you can still find plenty of tourist destinations named after her. There are more then 20 hotels called Victoria across Switzerland today. So I think this story certainly contributed to the fact that many generations of British families choose the beautiful landscapes, mountains and fresh air of Switzerland as their holiday destination.
From the book ‘Queen Victoria in Switzerland’ by Peter Arengo Jones and www.swissinfo.ch
I spy with my historical eye 