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| A pair of very happy knife makers in Brunnen |
When M was a little kid he saved his pocket money for a long time until he was able to buy himself a Victorinox, Swiss army camping pocket knife(he needed a big pocket in his bush shirt!). He has told me that in the car on the way home he managed to cut himself four or five times inspecting all the blades and gadgets. One of his most distressing travel experiences was leaving Aus, on a work trip, and realising that he still had his little single blade knife in his pocket; popping this in his pocket was as automatic as putting on his watch in the mornings. Of course it was confiscated in customs. When Willow was 18 months old, M decided to buy her a present whilst in Geneva - you guessed it - a Victorinox knife - it was white and he got it engraved with her name. Any excuse for another knife!
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| Mt Pilatus from our hotel terrace in Weggis. The township below the mountain is Hergiswil, Luzern is round the lake to the right. There are plenty of cable cars and cog rails to get people up and down the mountain. |
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| Mt Pilatus behind Luzern's famous Chapel Bridge. It cuts across the river diagonally and the inside roof is covered with paintings telling the stories of Saints and the founding fathers of the town. |
In the research process before our trip (what is worse than finding out afterwards how close you'd been to something wonderful but ignorant of it) M discovered that the Victorinox factory and the official visitors store that offered the chance to
assemble your very own knife was just a 20 min drive around the lake from our last stop. I had booked a hotel in Weggis, very picturesque, with the intent of using it as a base to go back and look around Luzern, that plan was now kaput - Valley of knives here we come.
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| Happy to have a sunny morning - looked forward to a cafe stop with this view after the knife making. |
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M's personal collection of Victorinox
and a Movenpic spoon (an essential tool in Switzerland) |
There are only two stores where Victorinox obsessives can assemble their own knives in all the world; one is in Geneva and the other is in the town where the factory is, Brunnen. You must have a reservation as there is only one assembly point and each knife takes quarter of an hour. The CHF30 charge includes explanations of how and why from a multilingual guide, her final check to make sure it is up to standard and an engraving on the red Spartan you have assembled. Those of your group not engaging in the activity can watch with great admiration, enjoy the museum displays about the company or look around the store upstairs (more knives, luggage, perfume, knife accessories, clothes - even a book or two.)
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Left: M and his completed knife! Right: Petal is told that her light touch is essential in knife assembly work.
Both chose the Philips screw driver rather than the corkscrew. |
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| The second table where the pieces are hammered together and the axle bits are trimmed down. |
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| The museum displays. |
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Victorinox Logo Similar to the Swiss flag
This was inverted for another mighty Swiss inspiration.
The Red Cross Museum was in Geneva. |
The original officer's knife is the Spartan - this is the model made in self assembly. It was developed by the founder of Victorinox, Karl Elsener and trademarked in 1897. The current model has been refined since this first attempt and has become a bit of a legend in the knife world. It's design brilliance is celebrated by the Museum of Modern Art in New York who have one on display, as does an applied art museum in Munich and Phaidon Design Classics have given it a place in their three volume collection of ultimate designs.
I always wondered where the name came from, I had surmised that since they were originally created for the Swiss Army (ie every male between 18 and 35 in the country) that the first three syllables were for 'victory'. I have been wrong all these years - Mr Elsener named his invention after his mother - Victoria, ooh how sweet. Stainless steel was invented in the 1900s and Inox is the international term for it. All the blades in the Swiss army knife were stainless by 1921 so the company name was changed to include it. Today the company is run by the fourth generation of Elseners; sharp folks!
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| Left: Waterfront Cafe Right: An efficient public convenience that only requires one plumbing exit, turn on the tap to wash your hands and the seat goes up so the excess water can fire into the bowl which is wide enough to catch all the splash. |
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| A Chemist of the natural kind with beautiful wall murals beside the Victorinox store. The painted clock is a sundial. |
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| Outdoor pursuits are revered in this mountainous land. There is a bike and sail tour from Luzern to Brunnen and back (see below) , the bike racks are clever and no one we saw used locks. |
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| Chestnut roof tiles whittled in the deep dark winter? |
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| More knife wielding crafts |
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| Weggis lakeside. Loving the boat garage on the little house. |
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| More of Weggis - One church had the most amazing cemetery and lovely clean public toilets. |
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The Memorial to Mark Twain who lived and wrote a while around Weggis. He is reported to have said that the saddest piece of stone he ever saw was the dying lion carved up on a poolside cliff on the way up Pilatus. It was carved in honour of the Swiss guard protecting Louis XVI at the time of the French Revolution. The only survivor, after the King told them to lay down their arms and not hurt his people(the revolutionaries) returned to his home and organised the memorial. I have never heard that story before. We didn't have time go to see it - but there are great images of it here
- http://imgarcade.com/1/lion-monument/ |
