Hidden Switzerland (Jost Auf der Maur)

Switzerland is always building. Often, it is down, into the Earth; its tunnels total 4000 kilometers. These subterranean structures are used for obvious purposes (mining, transportation, military bunkers, flood protection, shelters, and hydropower) and non-intuitive ones (museums, opera houses, clubs, classes, archives, museum storage, growing mushrooms). Hidden Switzerland is a photojournalist look at these awe-inspiring achievements, taking two photographers eleven years to compile. Each location is showcased by one or several pictures (all full-color and high quality) and followed by a paragraph explaining its usage or history (in German and English).

When we lived in Europe, I loved the Alps and the associated "tiefbau" (difficult construction): the engineering that goes into the tunnels and other impressive structures in the area. This book is a wonderful look at the shocking variety of Swiss underground works and their uses. My only wish is that there would be more text explaining how things were built. But overall, this is enjoyable and recommended.

Rating: B+

National Parks of Britain

There are 15 national parks in Britain (ten in England, three in Wales, and two in Scotland). In National Parks of Britain, each park gets an overview, explaining its history, showing top sites/points of interest, and providing a somewhat detailed map to help visitors navigate the area. 

As in the States, Britain's national parks can be large; the below map gives you an idea. A park can encompass many towns, geographical features, historical sites, and so on. This book is a nice guide to each.

The parks; image from here

As with the previous review, this book is great for those living in or traveling through Britain. Each park gets a cursory treatment, enough to get you going—but not enough to fully explore each area. So supplemental resources may be required, but this is a fine starting point.

Rating: B

Exploring Britain's Castles

Exploring Britain's Castles does just that, looking at 135 such structures across the island. The book is geographically arranged into six sections; most castles get one page (some two-four) with a few pictures and paragraphs covering history or other facts of interest. There is a good mix of castles, meaning the book includes ruined, 'real,' and restored castles (see this post for an explanation of these terms). 

This is a nice book for getting ideas of what to see: for picking out the castles of most interest if you live or are traveling in the area. There is far too little information to be comprehensive; this is just a taste. I enjoyed this book while we lived there, but now that we're ten years gone, I will pass it on to someone who can use it.

Aside: I think we got to see ~32 of these castles when we lived there. I felt like we covered a lot of ground, but apparently only scratched the surface. What a blessing, and also a reminder that we can't do it all.

Rating: B

The Thirty Years War

Every year, my church puts on a speaking event called "Ignite." Similar to TEDD talks (but limited to 5 minutes instead of 20), it is a great time. This year, I presented on the Thirty Years War. A transcript is below, with the PowerPoint slides interspersed.

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I’d like to share the story of the Thirty Years War, “one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history,” (W) and it starts with the Holy Roman Empire.

HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
The Holy Roman Empire (962-1806) was a shifting territory that included all of present-day Germany and much adjoining territory besides. The HRE was not a centralized state, but a “limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of sub-units: kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, Free Imperial Cities, and other domains.” (W) Within the HRE, there were about 300 of these different territories, some as small as a few square miles! The rulers of these sub-units owed the emperor allegiance, but also possessed a high degree of independence, with some of the larger areas striking their own coin and raising their own armies.

The Emperor was chosen by seven electors (3 religious, 4 secular), and often ruled a portion of the lands himself, thus holding other titles. Though elected, the Austrian house of Hapsburg would come to dominate the Empire over the years, having a string of Emperors that would last 300 years (1440-1740) and moving the center of power to Vienna and Prague.

THIRTY YEARS WAR (1618-1648)
One hundred years after Luther, religious diversity was rampant. Tensions had certainly existed between the various traditions, but the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 had established a policy where the ruler of a given region determined that region’s religion. As a result, some areas of the HRE were Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinists, and various permutations.

One Emperor, Ferdinand II (a Hapbsburg), also gained the title King of Bohemia, and he wanted to impose Catholicism in that largely-Protestant region. The Protestants in Bohemia revolted, throwing the emperor’s advisors out of a window and electing their own king. This didn’t go over well, and the Catholic areas of the HRE gathered armies to put down that rebellion, causing other Protestant areas to come to Bohemia’s aid and a predictable chain reaction occurred. The Thirty Years War had begun.

What started as a German war grew. Protestant Denmark and Sweden would intervene in 1625 and 1630, respectively, to assist the Protestant parts of the HRE. And then, something mysterious happened: in 1635, even Catholic France would join to help the Protestants. Why? Because the war had widened in scope beyond religion to encompass commercial interests and a political struggle: the Habsburg (family who ruled HRE & Spain) vs. Bourbon (France) jockeying for dominance on the continent.

By the time it ended, the war proved the most destructive conflict in Europe outside of the world wars; over 8 million Germans died, and some areas lost over 50% of their population. Some scholars suggest that this war set Germany back hundreds of years and allowed France to be the dominant power for a long time to come. And the outcome? Stalemate. Basically, the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 was remarkably similar to the pre-existing 1555 agreement. It did recognize Calvinism, though, as a “legitimate belief system,” and some consider it the end of the Protestant Reformation.

WHY IT MATTERS
Why do we fight? The HRE had worked for its first 650 years as a political patchwork that could accommodate religious differences and compromise. War broke out when one tried to impose their beliefs on all, which morphed into general desire for control, and ultimately caused only devastation. It shows our fallenness and futility: we desire to rule others: their territories, interests, resources, and minds. How does that work in a pluralistic society? How should we then live?

I don’t have the answers. But as we approach a contentious 2024 election, I pray that the Lord would give us the wisdom to live and work with those who have differing convictions. How to, as we read in Jeremiah 29:7, “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

REFERENCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War (W)
https://www.worldhistory.org/Thirty_Years'_War/ (H)

Ötztal

 Rounding out our Austria trip, we spent the second main day in another valley- the Ötztal. It was very similar to the Pitztal, but one can never get enough of the Alps, so it was still wonderful and worthwhile. 

Our day started oddly- basically, we took the wrong cable car. It was nice but not where we wanted to be, with no easy way to hike to our desired location. Chalking it up to error, we rode the car back down the mountain and drove on to our preferred destination, then rode a second car up all the way to the summit. This latter location was used in filming the James Bond Spectre film, and one is reminded of that constantly by the numerous signs and exhibits referencing it. The kids built a cairn, we enjoyed the views, then rode down to the middle station for a break. Then it was back to the base, and out of the valley. Another great day.

Imster Bergbahnen

 As I mentioned yesterday, after our tour of the Pitztal, we headed north to Hoch Imst to ride the Imster Bergbahnen (an Alpine coaster), the longest such in the world at 3.5 kilometers long. We could have hiked to the coaster's start, but elected to take the ski lift instead, enjoying the views. Almost all pictures here were taken from that lift, as we couldn't take photos once we were on the coaster.