New Year's Eve Weekend in Appenzell (Innerrhoden and Ausserrhoden)

Saturday and Sunday, December 31, 2022 / January 1, 2023 -- The people of our town love their fireworks, and New Year's Eve is just one of several occasions they are happy to make noise for hours, right next to the apartment. It's a thorn in many people's sides, but an issue not yet regulated by the government.

So we try to escape to a more secluded area, which is convenient for us because Urs' brother has a small house in the remote countryside in Canton Appenzell. We have also been having unseasonably warm weather and sunshine on this weekend, so it was nice to spend it in this lovely eastern part of Switzerland.

After my surgery, I still can only walk about 90 minutes, so we organized two short hikes for the weekend. On December 31st we started in Waldstadt and walked to Herisau, which is one of several communities in Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden where New Year's Eve is celebrated twice: Dec.31st according to the new Gregorian Calendar, and Jan.13th according to the old Julian Calendar. There is a fabulous tradition here called "Silvester Chläuse", locals dressed in elaborate hand-made costumes make the rounds of the villages singing and dancing for their neighbours (They start at 5 a.m.!). This is the second time we have experienced this tradition up close, and I would go again; the costumes are fabulous. We chose to experience this in Herisau because there was an additional display of headdresses no longer in use. 

(Before heading from there to Appenzell for the night, we made a stop in Urnäsch, the most well-known of the villages which celebrate the Silvester Chläuse. Photos to follow, but here are the photos from the previous time we experienced this:  HERE).

On Sunday we did a simple 90-minute walk around the Appenzell area including another look at the lovely painted buildings in that city. The temperature was about 17 degrees C and almost too warm in our jeans! Those photos are HERE.

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Saturday December 31, 2022: Waldstatt to Herisau  (8-9 km)

We started our walk on Saturday in the village of Waldstatt at 10:15 in the morning. We chose this as the starting point because we had previously ended a hike here, so we could continue from here northwards. 

From the village of Waldstatt, we first had to walk uphill, 100m altitude difference. In the background we had a nice view of Mt. Säntis

The uphill section should have taken 20 minutes, but it took us longer and we had to take several bench breaks!

The countryside is full of interesting farm houses

This kitty is enjoying the sunshine (as are we) and barely bothered opening its eyes as I observed it. 

We started in Waldstatt, walked up to meet the St.James Trail (no.4) and walked north to Herisau. Together with walking around the old town there, this ended up being almost 8 km of walking!

Each farm has its own name. This one is called Geisshalden

The cows appreciate being out of the barns as well

It was so hot in our jeans, that I was actually happy to find a bench in the shade!

Directly to the west is the village of Schwellbrunn, which we have seen from afar on a previous hike, but not yet discovered close up. 

About an hour after starting out from the train station at Waldstatt we joined the St.James trail (normal walking time would be 40 minutes, but we took many breaks). From here it's another hour to Herisau

After having gone the wrong way and then following a forest trail, we start our descent to Herisau. To the north you can see all the way to Lake Constance (Bodensee) and Germany. 

Across and past the highway is the town of Herisau. We had to descend, and then climb a lot of steps back to the old part of town. 

As Herisau is the capital city of Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden, the square in front of the church became the meeting place for many important people, and there were several restaurants built around the square. 

First we did a little tour of the old part of Herisau Town

Several very nice details on the buildings here. 

Lots of people here in Herisau, looking to catch a glimpse of the Silvester Chläuse as they return from the farms around the town. They come into town for something to eat or drink, having started their tours at 5 a.m!

From the church terrace we saw our first group of "Beautiful" Chläuse heading down the alley below us. 

It's hard to see, but the main figure in each group of six (two large headdresses, four smaller ones, first and last dressed like women) has a flower at the corner of the mask's mouth

The theme of this group seems to have been "Community building houses together"

VIDEO:

Group of six whose theme is House Building

The Protestant church at the main square in Herisau

The interior of the Protestant church was fairly simple, modern and sleek

We headed over to the old Armoury where I had been told was a display of very fancy headdresses which are no longer (or not) used in the actual festivities. Some of these were absolutely stunning. Apparently it takes over two years to create such a headdress, and it is mostly the local men who work on these as a hobby over the winter (reminiscent of women who used to get together to make quilts). They can only work on the headdresses in winter as they have too much farm work in summer. 

This wilderness theme displayed ibex in the mountains!

Life on the farm

A farming theme

Hard to imagine this is worn as a headdress and paraded for hours through the countryside

So much incredible bead work in this piece of art. This is the main headdress of the group, recognized by the flower in the corner of the mask's mouth

A particularly nice display of a group of six with the theme "Fairy Tales" (We recognized "Rapunzel", "Hansel and Gretel", "Red Riding Hood", "The Musicians of Bremen", "The Wolf and Seven Little Goats", and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves".

There are three different groups of costumes. Each group has six members. One group is called "Die Schönen", which means "The Beautiful Ones", and these have two members with large headdresses and 6-7 bells in front and back, and four with small headdresses and two large cowbells. The other two groups are called "Schön/Wüste" which are six members with a forest theme (the costumes are refurbished with fresh fir branches each year), and the "Wüste" ("Uglies") which are monsters made of all kinds of natural materials such as wool, wood, horn, straw etc. 

Here is an example of a costume in the group called the "Uglies", made with horns and wool. 

A group of "Schön/Wüsten" heading to the nearest pub for a drink

A group of "Schön/Wüsten" heading to the nearest pub for a drink

VIDEO:

The "Schön/Wüsten" heading up to the nearest pub for a drink!

We returned to the town square and were able to see another group of six coming up the road. Their theme was steam engines!

At 3 p.m. we made our way toward Appenzell with a stopover in the village of Urnäsch, where we were able to observe more interesting costumes as well as the traditional dancing and singing as the groups moved from house to house in the village. The town is smaller and the experience more intimate. Photos to follow.

This Google Satellite Map shows the several hikes we have done in this area (called the Toggenburg). In orange is the short hike we did this day from Waldstatt to Herisau. On the way to Appenzell, we stopped in Urnäsch to admire more Silvester Chläuse.

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Returning to the Pastoral Landscape of Luzern: Ruswil to Werthenstein

Wednesday December 28, 2022 -- With this warm spell and all the snow melted in the lowlands, we can do some walking in the agricultural landscapes in our own neighbourhood. 

A very pretty region to walk in is the Luzern Backcountry, where we recently almost completed the second half of the Themed "Luzern Chapel Trail" (photos are HERE), having missed only one chapel of the 17 chapels highlighted on this trail. Also at that time, the mountains were obscured by clouds, so this being a good visibility day, we returned to the area.

As luck would have it, the final chapel in Rüediswil was closed for restoration! Nevertheless, we had good views of the mountains, walked around a lake (Soppisee), and found an even more interesting chapel (probably privately-owned, belonging to a family farm) in a tiny village called Buholz. Our 10-km walk was on relatively level ground and would have been more enjoyable if the recent rains hadn't made the pasture trails all muddy

As I had recently had surgery, we walked much slower than usual. And originally we had planned to visit the former monastery at Werthenstein at the end of the hike, but I was too tired for that. Also, it was quite a cold day, but we had lots of sunshine!

Heading toward Luzern by train, this is a familiar sight on a clear day across from our lake, Lake Zug. Those are the Bernese Alps. 

A couple of the towers on the old Luzern City Wall, as we leave the city by bus heading toward Ruswil

Farm buildings along the way. 

We started our hike in Ruediswil where we ended the previous time, hoping to have a look at the final chapel on the "Luzern Chapel Trail". From there we walked around Lake Soppisee and joined the St.James Trail (No.4) to Werthenstein. Of particular interest was the private chapel in Buholz. 

St. Jost & Wendelin chapel in Rüediswil, built in 1639, apparently has some nice paintings inside, but the chapel is currently undergoing renovations. This was the final chapel on the official "Luzern Chapel Trail" which we still wanted to look at. We started our hike here. 

On this day we really did have a very nice view into the Alps!

South of us is Mt. Pilatus. There were very many sheep in the pastures here. 

This looks like a very specific breed of sheep. I'd have to look it up. 

How cute is this!

Next part of the trail goes around Lake Soppi (or Soppisee). On the other side of the lake, the trail was very muddy. 

With less foliage on the trees, we actually saw more of the lake!

Far to the East a close-up look of St.Ottilien, one of the more interesting chapels on the "Luzern Chapel Trail"

Heading slightly uphill on the west side of Lake Soppisee

Urs and Lake Soppisee

It's always kind of fun when we pass such gardens, whose claim it is to produce herbs for the world-famous Ricola Candies!

Another look south across the beautiful pastures to the snow-covered Alps

Maple or Linden?

There were quite a few interesting things to see in the tiny village called Buholz. 

An old storage barn in Buholz

Of paticular interest was this chapel in Buholz. We think this might have been a private chapel for an old established family from the area

For such a small chapel, there was a lot going on in terms of decoration inside this church. On the lower part of the right and left altar pieces, there were skulls on display, something we had never seen before. 

Details inside the Buholz chapel, including two skulls on display, and a gravestone for a couple with the name of Amrhyn-Faller, probably the forefathers of the people currently living on the farm next to the chapel 

Further along the trail near Buholz was another tiny chapel, with an unusually low door!

For a little over a kilometer we followed this path, which would have been enjoyable if it hadn't been so muddy!

Heading south, with Mt. Pilatus ahead of us

We passed this farm with loads of newly-born lambs, they can't have been more than a day or so old!

Lots of new-born lambs here, the bleating was so loud!

Many interesting old farm houses along the way

Final approach to the town of Werthenstein with the former Monastery high on the hill. By the time we got to valley level, I was too tired to want to go look at the church on the hill.  

The village of Werthenstein. Before catching the train back to Luzern, we had time to go have a closer look at the covered wooden bridge. 

Crossing the covered wooden bridge in Werthenstein. 

Some interesting painted detail. 

It's 3 p.m. now and time to head back home (we started the hike at 11 a.m. in Rüediswil). The river here is the Kleine Emme (Small Emme) River. 

The part of the Luzern Chapel Trail east of Ruswil we did in November, and the northwestern section a year ago. This time we walked to Werthenstein via Lake Soppisee and Buholz, about 9 kilometers. 

Two weeks earlier, on December 13th, we passed through Werthenstein on our way to the Kambly Cookie factory. This is what the monastery looks like from below on a snowy day!

Passing the Werthenstein Monastery on a snowy day in December!

Also, in May 2021 we did another hike starting here in Werthenstein. There are some nice photos of the village from a different angle in my Blog Album from that hike. Those photos are HERE.