England: Landschaft und Mensch

Name of traveller

Johannes Buchmann

Reason for travel

• travelling as cultural tourist; holidaying

Date of travel

undated, ca. early 1950s

Über eine lange Passstraße an einem langgestreckten, eintönigen See vorbei gelangten wir am Abend in ein grösseres Dorf mit dem biblischen Namen Bethesda. Es schien tot zu sein. Die frommen Dörfler waren in den Kapellen zum Gottesdienst versammelt; kräftig klangen ihre Stimmen durch verschlossene Fenster im Gesang der Choräle. (Buchmann 27)

Content

• customs:
  • identifies Welsh culture as essentially Celtic
  • reference to chapel culture and the powerful sounds of hymn singing
• language: finds the Welsh language essentially strange
• people: travels with a friend from Manchester
• recreation:
  • finds accommodation for tourists quite primitive, but the hosts are very friendly
  • hiking excursion in Snowdonia, but has to abandon the plan of climbing Snowdon owing to bad weather
• terrain:
  • identifies Chester as border town between Wales and England owing to bilingual signs put up in the railway station
  • romanticised descriptions of otherworldly, wild, mountainous landscapes of north Wales
• transport: travels on foot and by train

Nationality of traveller

Swiss

Language of publication

German

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

travelogue

Citation

Buchmann, Johannes. England: Landschaft und Mensch. Zürich: Origo-Verlag, 1954. 24-7. Print.