SUSANNE WENGER Leaf through a Swiss hiking guide and you will probably expect the book to focus on the famous mountain regions. Thomas Widmer, on the other hand, likes to recommend less well-known routes. Hägendorf in the canton of Solothurn, one of the insider tips in his new book, is an unassuming village at the southern foot of the Jura mountains. Widmer stumbled upon an area on the slopes above Hägendorf called Amerikanerblätz, a name that piqued his interest. “Blätz” in Swiss German dialect means a piece of land. The municipality cleared this spot of trees in 1854, using the sale of the wood to cover the cost of paying for 128 villagers to emigrate to America. These were poor people, and Hägendorf wanted to get rid of them. A plaque marks where the villagers are said to have begun their long journey. “Every part of our countryside has its own stories and memories,” says Widmer. The most popular national pastime According to German news magazine “Der Spiegel”, Widmer, 62, from the canton of Appenzell, is Switzerland’s very own hiking guru. Widmer has a horde of followers who read his daily blog posts. He has also spent the past 20 years writing a popular column, which now appears in the magazine “Schweizer Familie”, the publication at which he works. Widmer uses the column to describe his weekly or twice-weekly walks, rain or shine. The same friends accompany Widmer on his Saturday hikes. “Walking with others means sharing the enjoyment and getting more out it,” he says. Many in Switzerland have the same passion. Something that broader sections of the population only really took up in the second half of the 19th century is now the most popular national pastime. According to the Federal Office of Sport, almost 60 per cent of people who live in Switzerland, or around four million, hike regularly. Enshrined in the constitution There has been a hiking boom in the last ten years, with a more diverse range of people taking up walking. More young people, more women, and more expats. According to a survey, people hike because of the health benefits and the enjoyment of being out in nature rather than the pursuit of sporting achievement. Switzerland is a hiker’s dream, with some 65,000 kilometres of signposted walking trails. This network has been protected in the constitution for over 40 years. No other country has safeguarded its hiking routes in this way. In 2023, hiking was also added to Switzerland’s national inventory of living cultural heritage. Widmer thinks these developments are the reason why people like to read his publications. “Anything on the subject of hiking has a ready-made audience, provided you manage not to write complete drivel.” A self-effacing assessment, to put it mildly. Widmer writes beautifully, cheerfully and cleverly, sharing lots of information. He visits all corners of Switzerland and is always able to dig up something new and interesting, taking the reader with him on every adventure. For pleasure, not pain Peculiar names like Amerikanerblätz are not the only things that inspire him. Antiquarian books do too. Or he will travel by train, then on the spur of the moment decide to walk to one of the destinations shown on the ubiquitous yellow hiking trail signpost that you see at every station. The “Basler Zeitung” has playfully referred to Widmer as Humboldt, a prominent explorer of the Romantic period. For his part, Widmer sees himself as someone who walks essentially for pleasure. “The era of deadly serious, elbows out, is over.” Not that Widmer is afraid of hard walking. He can go for hours, maybe with the odd scrape The journalist who explores Switzerland on foot Thomas Widmer has been hiking around Switzerland on a weekly basis for many years, writing accounts of his walks that are as entertaining as they are detailed. His adventures make him happy – as they do millions of other people around the country. “A hike is like a psychodrama,” says Thomas Widmer. The sign next to him says “Cross the bridge at your own risk”. Photo provided 20 Profile
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