Great Alps, great minds and great endeavors for peace

When many people think of Switzerland they may draw up images of a man clothed in Lederhosen standing high on the Alps and belching out a powerful barrage of baritone through a long wooden trumpet-like alphorn.

Yodeling is also still practiced as a cultural tradition in the mountainous regions of Switzerland, however the country is far more than just a group of yodeling yokels.

Switzerland's majestic scenery and crisp mountain air has provided a mental sanctuary for some of the world's greatest scientists.

Perhaps one of the greatest of Swiss pioneers was Albert Einstein, who became a citizen of Switzerland in 1901 after leaving Germany six years earlier at the age of 16.

After difficulties finding a post-graduate job, Einstein finally landed a job at the Swiss Patent Office where he worked as an assistant examiner in the nation's capital, Berne.

During his time examining patents for Swiss electromagnetic devices, Einstein began concocting concepts about the devices he was looking at. These concepts eventually became the theories that led to his development of the Special Theory of Relativity.

Almost 60 years after Einstein's innovations, Switzerland native Carl Jung began rocking the roots in the field of psychology with his own groundbreaking theories.

Both a psychologist and a philosopher, Jung is most known for creating the theories of Archetypes, the collective conscious and synchronicity.

Today the scientists of Switzerland are still taking leaps and bounds into the unknown.

One of Switzerland's most prestigious educational institutions, The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, has produced over 20 Nobel Laureates, the most recent being Kurt Wuthrich, who received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2002.

Switzerland's famous neutrality policy, declared during the Vienna congress after the country's war against Napoleon in 1815, has made it one of the few countries in the world to avoid direct war for almost two centuries.

Its politically stable environment and position at a cultural crossroad has endowed the central European country of 7.5 million people with an ideal platform for international politics.

Landlocked between three major European authorities, France, Germany and Italy, the country is often used as a common meeting ground for surrounding the nations.

In 1949 it hosted the third Geneva Convention, which set the guidelines for treatment of prisoners of war after World War II.

The country's involvement in European politics, despite not being a member of the EU, seems to be growing as more and more international non-profit organizations begin calling the country home.

Switzerland houses major world players such as the Red Cross, the International Olympic Committee, the World Health Organization and several United Nations committee offices.

Swiss culture draws on the traditions of its neighbors. With four national languages, roughly two-thirds of the population speaks German, one-fifth French, and less than 10 percent speak Italian and Romansh.

Expressive dances, such as the Schuplatter, are commonplace in Swiss culture, in which music is the backbone of social gatherings. The Montreux Jazz Festival is one of the best known of Swiss music festivals.

Todd Balazovic

(China Daily 04/18/2008 page19)