What’s in a name?
I’ll admit I had no intention of writing about this memorial to a lion (Löwendenkmal) in Luzern, or even Lucerne as it’s usually referred to in English. I just liked the photo, taken as it is from an unusual aspect.
Luzern is a place that you will visit if you come to Switzerland, or take visitors to several times if you live here. It’s the ideal place to get an appreciation of the country, with its bridge, mountains and the lake.
Lake Lucerne, or to give its local name, Vierwaldstättersee, is simply beautiful. But it does highlight the issue of names. Lakes, mountains and towns all have different names in different languages.
This has long irked me,giving our own names to foreign cities; Florence instead of Firenze for example. Other nations do it too, the Italians for example refer to what we call Munich as Monaco, which seems a bit daft when you consider that the principality of Monaco is only a few kilometres from the Italian border. But as the Germans call Munich, München, I guess we have no right to complan about that.
Switzerland has four official languages; German, French, Italian and Romantsch – so things can get a bit complex. German speakers call Geneva “Genf”, whereas the French prefer “Genève”. Such a lovely name, why would anyone resort to “Genf”? Jealousy perhaps?
That’s all quite normal stuff, but in areas of mixed language, residents of one town can’t decide what its name should be. Biel, aka Bienne, being a classic case in point. This is particularly the case for regions such as Ticino (Tessin) or Vaud (Waadt). Most confusing.
So if you’re looking for directions to a particular area in Switzerland, and can’t find it, make sure you try any alternative names.
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