[Culturechat] A trip to Aelggi Alp

[Vance Roy]

This is a trip most CH visitors will never make. If you are part 
mountain goat, you might climb up to this spot. Otherwise, you have to 
know someone in the Sachseln area who will take you. Since my good 
friend, Albert Greutert, is a member of the Sachseln men's choir, and 
they sing at the alp blessing each year, I was able to go up there some 
years ago. I have been back several times. Upon reflection, I'll bet 
there are comparable events all over the Heartland that are about the 
same. If you have a landlady/lord that knows of one, you might hit it 
lucky.

Each summer about this time, a blessing of the alps takes place. Around 
here the most famous of these is up at Aelggi Alp. The geographical 
center of CH. Some years ago, the guys in Bern decided they needed to 
know where the exact center of this convoluted country was. They took a 
large map of the land and pasted it on some cardboard. Then they cut it 
around the borders. Then they took a piece of wood and put a nail 
through it. After that, they balanced the map on the nail until it was 
perfectly even. Where the nail came through the cardboard, was the 
geographical center of the country. Now, I don't know exactly how Kosher 
this is in terms of cartography, but it must have satisfied them. They 
built a monument on the site, and it is at Aegli Alp today. It turns out 
that Aelggi Alp has been there for a lot longer than the monument. 
people around here can remember going up there to camp with their 
families as children.

Aelggi Alp is reached by non-mountain goats by way of a one way road, 
wide enough to get a car width up. On weekdays, it is Russian roulette; 
On weekends, up goes on the even hour, and down goes on the odd hour. 
This is the recommended method. To reach this place in winter would be a 
real task on foot, and when one got there, the snow would be very deep. 
After parking next to the family run hotel and restaurant, you can see 
that you are situated in a bowl with the mountains all around you on 
three sides. There are a half dozen or so alpine huts and barns in this 
bowl with a small chapel amongst them. To the west of this area is a 
large marker surrounded by a fence to keep the cows at bay. This is the 
exact geographical center of CH.

The service of blessing is relatively short, attended by the locals, the 
choir sings, and the outsiders like me wonder at the whole place. 
Afterwards, the priest throws a wine party of sorts. In recent years, I 
have opted out of the party and hiked up to the lake known as the 
Sachseln Lake. As usual, the whole area is plain drop dead beautiful. 
Cow bells resound all around, and one can see those beasts very high up 
on the mountain sides eating away. The lake makes a good picnic spot. 
Our repast today was turkey and bacon sandwiches followed by a cheese 
and fruit course of a Granny Smith apple and some CH mountain cheese 
that never saw the inside of a retail establishment. One always finds 
some fishermen there, and I have seen some very large ones pulled in. 
Today we met four young men with 25 fish, all lake trout and all over a 
foot long with the biggest pushing 20 inches. One can continue the walk 
from there over the mountains into the Hasliberg plateau, but it is a 
steep and long way.

After a picnic and walk back, it is time for a libation at the 
restaurant. Most of the choir members bring families and picnic too 
unless bad weather makes it unpleasant to cook out. Near the monument, 
there is a nice fireplace for grilling. All in all, one gets a view of 
alpine life here that is secluded and yet very pleasant.

There will be pictures to come.

Vance Roy
gigli.saw@dplanet.ch