Saturday, August 7, 2010

Küssnacht-am-Rigi

Views of beautiful Küssnacht-am-Rigi, Switzerland, on the north shore of Lake Lucerne. Tragically, this is where lovely young Queen Astrid of the Belgians (with her unfortunate husband at the wheel) died in a car accident. A memorial chapel was built at the site of the crash, see HERE for photos.
Courtesy of Simon Koopmann.
Courtesy of Andrew Bossi.

According to legend, this is where Wilhelm Tell shot the tyrannical Austrian bailiff with his crossbow. The district's name apparently derives from the Latin Cossiniacum, referring to the estate of the Roman noble, Cossinius. Over time, however, it has been corrupted to Küssnacht ("kiss night" in German). Certainly an evocative name for a place where a great love was lost forever.

1 comment:

Jorge said...

Switzerland is definitely one of my two or three favorite countries in the world. It has always amazed me how a country that is located in the center of Europe never embraced the monarchical concept and instead chosed a different approach to their government. And well, its history, the beauty of its nature, their traditions and their chocolate (though the Belgian is the best in the world, in my opinion) also attracts me.