In Peaceful Switzerland, Trouble at a Historic Meadow
It was in the Rütli Meadow in 1291 where, according to legend, representatives of the three original Swiss cantons, Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden, took an oath to protect one another from the great threat of the era, the Austrians. So each Aug. 1, the reputed date of the Rütli oath, the Swiss celebrate their independence and courageous beginnings.
“It’s a bit of Bastille Day and the Fourth of July rolled into one,” said Urs W. Studer, Lucerne’s mayor, seated in his spacious office in a gingerbread kind of town hall just a short stroll from the lakeshore....
[In the 19th century the Swiss began celebrating the Meadow pact.]
Then, two years ago, the tradition seemed to shatter. The committee invited the incumbent president, Samuel Schmid, who decided to speak about the delicate topic of immigration. But the event was crashed by dozens of skinheads and neo-Nazis, who whistled and hooted and saluted Mr. Schmid with extended arm, Nazi-style, making it impossible for him to be heard. Television cameras magnified the event.
Last year, things quieted down. Only people who had registered were allowed to obtain a ticket. And instead of a volatile political figure, the committee invited a mild-mannered industrialist, a former chief executive of the Swiss phone company, to speak.
This year, however, there is the chance of new discord.
Read entire article at NYT
“It’s a bit of Bastille Day and the Fourth of July rolled into one,” said Urs W. Studer, Lucerne’s mayor, seated in his spacious office in a gingerbread kind of town hall just a short stroll from the lakeshore....
[In the 19th century the Swiss began celebrating the Meadow pact.]
Then, two years ago, the tradition seemed to shatter. The committee invited the incumbent president, Samuel Schmid, who decided to speak about the delicate topic of immigration. But the event was crashed by dozens of skinheads and neo-Nazis, who whistled and hooted and saluted Mr. Schmid with extended arm, Nazi-style, making it impossible for him to be heard. Television cameras magnified the event.
Last year, things quieted down. Only people who had registered were allowed to obtain a ticket. And instead of a volatile political figure, the committee invited a mild-mannered industrialist, a former chief executive of the Swiss phone company, to speak.
This year, however, there is the chance of new discord.