1261, 1262 SWITZERLAND (Appenzell Innerrhoden) - Little herders

Settlement of the Appenzell region (in the northeast of Switzerland, entirely surrounded by the Canton of St. Gallen) began along the River Glatt during the 7th century. Herisau was first mentioned in 907, while the name of Appenzell (from the Latin abbatis cella, which means abbey cell) first appears in 1071. It joined the Old Swiss Confederacy as the 13th canton in 1513, and in 1597 it was divided into two half-cantons on denominational grounds: Appenzell Ausserrhoden is the Protestant part; Appenzell Innerrhoden is Catholic.

Known as the most authentic of Swiss villages, Appenzell is also the birthplace of yodeling, alphorn blowing, talerschwingen (the rolling of a coin around the inside of an earthenware bowl to create a rhythm) and alpstobede (herdmen’s sports). Cattle breeding and dairy farming are the main agricultural activities in Appenzell, so that for the rural people the most important events of the year aren't Christmas or Easter, but the times when the cows are moved up to mountain pastures or brought home.

0740 SWITZERLAND (Bern) - Chästeilet in Bernese Oberland

In the 15th century, the people living north of the Alps began to use rennet (a substance from the stomach of a cow) to make hard cheeses, much more durable than the cottage cheese. This was the foundation of the Swiss cheese culture. Until the 18th century, this cheese was made only in the summer, because the cows were dry in the winter. This changed in the early 19th century, and the cheese made year-round in the valleys in the mountainous regions is now known as mountain cheese, to distinguish it from Alp cheese, which is still produced ​​only in the summer, from milk which comes from cows that spend the summer up on the Alps.

0027 SWITZERLAND - Alphorn players

Until recently I was confident that the bucium (also called tulnic in some areas) is an musical instrument used exclusively by Romanians. Behold, isn't it, even if its origins are however in the Carpathian mountains, where it was used by the Dacians more than 2,000 years ago and afterwards by the dwellers of Moldavia and Wallachia principalities as signaling devices in military conflicts, as well as for guiding sheep and dogs in the mountains. The name comes from the Latin bucinum (curved horn) and instrument is in fact a very long tube (a truncated cone, more precisely) made from limetree bark or wood.