The 5th Switzerland
The park of the Swiss overseas
In 2023 around 26,400 Swiss lived in Australia, making it the third-largest Swiss community overseas, after the USA and Canada. According to the Swiss Alliance Australia (the umbrella organisation of Swiss clubs in Australia), these days Swiss people emigrate to Australia for professional, family, or personal reasons. The climate, high quality of life, and nature attract many.
Swiss citizens living abroad are often referred to as the ‘Fifth Switzerland’. This expression originates from the fact that Switzerland has four linguistic regions – German, French, Italian and Romansh – and Swiss citizens living abroad are considered to be a fifth region.
Switzerland is divided up into 26 cantons. Sometimes you might also hear the expression “27th canton” for the Swiss who live overseas. This can be seen for example at the ‘Park of the Swiss Abroad’ at Lake Urnersee (the southern arm of Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland). The park is counted as the 27th (and final) part of the Swiss Path (in German: Weg der Schweiz), a special national hiking path in central Switzerland opened in 1991. On the path every canton of the country is represented by a section of the track.
The ‘Platz der Auslandschweizer’ (Place/Park of the Swiss Abroad) in Brunnen is intended as a spiritual home representing the more than 818,000 Swiss citizens living abroad. It symbolises the ties that bind the ‘Fifth Switzerland’ to its homeland. The park has a very picturesque location on the shores of the Urnersee, with mountains on most sides of the lake.
A granite block at the entrance to the park ‘Platz der Auslandschweizer’ draws visitors' attention to the purpose of the park.
This photo gives an impression of the impressive location of the 'Platz der Auslandschweizer' in Brunnen at Lake Lucerne.
Twenty large scale presentation boards were established in the park in 2005 which inform the public of the diverse spread of Swiss living in different parts of the world and highlight the close relations existing between Swiss around the world and Switzerland itself.
Migros Magazine is a weekly free newspaper of the Swiss supermarket chain Migros. In 2013, the Migros Magazine reported on a Zurich woman named Christina Schulthess (33) who had moved from Sydney to Hobart with her Australian boyfriend Peter (32) in 2009, and how Christina, an Australian-Swiss dual citizen, organised a celebration for Swiss National Day (1 August) in a café in Battery Point in Hobart. Among the guests were Swiss winemaker Hans-Peter Althaus (71) and his wife Ruth (72), who run a winery in Tasmania's Coal River Valley. Christina hung up lanterns sporting the Swiss cross (from the flag) and organised Swiss specialities such as rösti, spätzli, mostbröckli, Hörnli salad, raclette and fondue. Christina told Swiss magazine Migros: "Because it's winter now, the food fits in perfectly. When it snows, it feels even more Swiss." On Swiss National Day, she plays Swiss pop music by singers such as Gölä and Polo Hofer.[1]
Sometimes Christina has to explain the background to the 1st of August in Switzerland to her Australian friends. She tells them about the Rütli Oath (this oath is part of Switzerland's founding myth: in 1291, three representatives from the regions of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden took an oath on the Rütli meadow on Lake Lucerne to form a defensive alliance against the Austrians and other enemies[2]).
A presentation board in the park, focused on Australia’s wine industry.
One of the presentation boards in the park for the ‘5th Switzerland’ focuses on Australia’s wine industry and how Swiss immigrants took vines with them to Australia and contributed to the growth of an industry that has helped shape the image of the land Down Under.
On 15 April 2016, a new version of the exhibition was inaugurated in the park, featuring 20 new posters. You can read more about the Place/Park of the Swiss Abroad here. One of the 20 posters gives reasons why Swiss emigrate as follows:
♦ Notes:
1. Vogt R, Wild R, Hettinger Y (2013). 'Rütlischwur Down Under', Migros-Magazin, Nr. 31, 29 July 2013, p. 11 (Publisher: Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund, Zürich).
2. Sitzler, Susann. (2018). Total alles über die Schweiz. 4th edition. Wien: Folio Verlag. p.70
♦ References:
'Area for the Swiss Abroad', in the website of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA).
Swiss Alliance Australia (the umbrella organisation of Swiss clubs in Australia)