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Motorcycle tour in eastern Switzerland: Appenzell
Motorcycling in Switzerland
Motorbike tour through the Appenzellerland
Granted, the Swiss have an attractive flag. But do you have to hang the 14,400 square meters and weigh more than a ton on a mountain flank? Winding research through eastern Switzerland on a motorcycle.
Gerhard Eisenschink
07/05/2012
The journey by ferry across Lake Constance from Meersburg to Konstanz is rather cloudy. Nothing to see of the otherwise impressive Alpine chain over the Swiss bank. On August 1, 2009, visibility was good. Some of the residents of the Swabian shores of Lake Constance must have rubbed their eyes in disbelief. There was an oversized Swiss flag over there over the lake in Appenzell, which stretched over almost the entire mountain flank.
We want to investigate the mirage. Immediately after landing, steer our two BMW 650 GS towards Switzerland, which immediately shows its flag. Linguistic too. Of “Schwyzer cheese fondue” we read there on the way. And from “Chocolate”, “Herzli” and “Greetings”. And again and again the federal cross flutters on a red background in gardens and on house walls. Also in Arbon with its picturesque old town not far from the shores of Lake Constance. We chug through the alleys for a moment and see a five square meter banner hanging right over our heads across Walhallastrabe.
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Flag research isn’t the only reason to be here. The Appenzell is a fabulous landscape for discoverers of the nature of curves, because the hilly foothills of the alpine chains are home to a labyrinth of streets and lanes that twist through a green landscape. The road from Rorschach to Heiden is such a mogul slope for motorcyclists. A tiny thing that you first have to look for on the map with a magnifying glass. But roads where two cars can hardly pass are not uncommon in Appenzell. So right away in this style and curvy from Heiden over to St. Gallen. For the next combination of curves we have to go through the city, get lost and land on Red Square. No, not the one in Moscow. The one in St. Gallen. And that is actually covered with bright red flooring. The Muscovites can cut a slice with a Swiss knife. The St. Gallen residents even have a red-clad fountain. You are almost tempted to look for the white cross somewhere on the ground with so much red. But don’t worry, the Swiss flag hangs on the corner of a house a few crossings away.
Iron ham
View of Lake Lucerne from a motorcycle.
Then we found the exit to Trogen and Altstatten. This is where our tour through northern Appenzell begins, which has only one purpose: to pack as many curves as possible on these small roads into one round. So over Heiden down into the Rhine Valley, back up to Heiden and over the wonderfully winding Ruppenpass back down into the Rhine Valley. These are narrow streets, usually no guardrail, no center line. But blooming dandelion meadows as a boundary. The day is drawing to a close, and so it goes back up into Appenzell and briskly via Gais and Teufen back to St. Gallen.
The next day is a special one in Appenzell. Not only does the flag go back to the 15th century, but also an old custom of the eastern Swiss Confederates: the rural community. Citizens’ decisions on laws are taken in the open air with the show of hands. Many male voters still wear the sword that has been inherited for generations. In this oldest form of direct democracy, women were left behind – until April 29, 1990. Only then did women’s suffrage come into effect in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden.
Today is Landsgemeinde day. In the city of Appenzell, you can only continue on foot – and that too with a lot of effort. All the streets of the city are jam-packed. The people below, the flags above their heads. Past stalls with Biberli, Chrempfli and other treats, we make our way to Landsgemeinde-Platz and experience the final vote. Then sword bearers stream towards us. One is almost tempted to look for the familiar Swiss knife design on the handles. But it wasn’t until the 19th century that the striking jackknife became a figurehead for the defensive Swiss.
Iron ham
The Schwagalb at the foot of the santis is traditionally a secret race track for local motorcyclists.
The biggest figurehead of the Appenzeller is the Santis. The 2500 meter high grande of the double canton can be clearly seen from the city of Appenzell. A serpentine route winds up to Schwagalp directly at the foot of an impressive 1000 meter rock face. What an idea that the 120 by 120 meter mammoth flag hung in this wall. Even if we missed the event by a good two years, the idea alone is exciting. On good weekends, the Santisalm is frequented by hundreds of motorcyclists – then the parking lot in front of the mountain hotel is full. We have lunch on the Schwagalp terrace and lean our head back. Sitting in the front row on a rock wall is an experience. Even if there is no flag hanging on it.
We want to be amazed and spend the night in Schwagalp. The next morning holds a surprise: it snowed at night, everything was white, the road was smooth and the sky was overcast. We actually wanted to take the gondola up to the Santis. But today we prefer to see that we carefully maneuver our machines a few hundred meters deeper where there is no snow. The well-known driving pleasure on the narrow streets of Appenzell quickly set in, and we work our way over Wattwil and the Rickenpass towards Lake Zurich. Where a treat for every classic car enthusiast can be found east of the lake in Gommiswald: Bruno Ruegg’s garage. The well-known vehicle restorer has filled his spacious workshop with two and four-wheeled treasures up to the ceiling.
“I dug this 600 Indian Scout from 1923 out of the dirt at a farmer’s – a day before the scrap iron dealer came, or?”, tells Bruno Ruegg in robust Schwyzerdutsch. And he doesn’t want to stop explaining one rarity after another to us. “Now I really have time for it”, confesses the happy pensioner, whose garage is open to anyone interested. Fortunately, too, when the master is working on his vehicles. And he actually does that almost every hour of the day.
We want to go on. Along the Obersee, the eastern part of Lake Zurich, we come to Rapperswil. The architectural jewel in a perfect location by the lake seduces you to stop from afar with its striking castle that juts out over the rooftops.
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We stretch our feet in the old town, which is perfectly placed between the lake and the castle hill, climb the castle hill for a lake view and stroll along the lake promenade and the harbor. A quick coffee with the fabulous panorama, then off to the mountains, which looked so enticingly over the lake from behind the coffee cup. The Seedamm leads straight across the lake to Pfaffikon. There the mountains rise up from the bank to the Etzel Pass. This is a curvy start for a lake tour through Eastern Switzerland, which leads over the Sihlsee to the agerisee and Zugersee and on to the Vierwaldstattersee. After Schwyz, the narrowest bends again: over the Ibergeregg pass, it goes to Oberiberg and back to the Sihlsee. Another lake is still open: The elongated Walensee actually lies like a gigantic marine mammal between the mountain walls and once again offers great federal landscape cinema. On its north bank the Churfirsten tower in a neat row, the south flanks of which drop vertically into the lake and cause dreaded winds for sailors. The six to 13 Churfirsten, depending on the number, form the Appenzell Alps and are a climbing paradise even for less trained climbers, i.e. motorcyclists like us who want to play alpinists.
When we reach Liechtenstein in the evening and see the mountains of the Alpstein from the Rhine valley with the Santis over there in Appenzell, we cannot simply drive home. We have to track down the giant flag on this mountain again. Now with the last gondola? Just as the flag fared on July 30, 2009: With a weight of 1.2 tons, it was brought up from the Santisbahn and pulled apart on ropes by climbers the next day. The spectacle on the national holiday costing 80,000 francs – with two risks: clouds and wind. The first risk was quickly a thing of the past. On August 1st, the clouds cleared the view, the flag could be seen throughout the Appenzellerland and across Lake Constance. But the second risk! A little air movement was enough and it happened: the noble thread scraped the sharp-edged rock and tore through from top to bottom in the evening. One day was enough to set a record with the largest Swiss flag – the second largest in the world.
Information and tour tips
Iron ham
A curvy entry on tiny streets of the Appenzellerland, a lake tour with a view and exciting mountain routes towards central Switzerland as a conclusion: the north-east of Switzerland offers a full program.
Travel time
4 days
Route driven
680 kilometers
getting there
A 7 via Ulm to Memmingen, from there either on the A 96 to Bregenz, in Austria with a vignette to Dornbirn and via Lustenau to eastern Appenzell. Or from Friedrichshafen or Meersburg from the north bank by ferry across Lake Constance (www.bsb-online.com).
Travel time
Lake Constance is the region’s heat source and ideal for a start to the season as early as March. But the Appenzell rises quickly to over 1000 meters and is often only snow-free everywhere on the roads from April, pure mountain stretches like the one to Santis much later. In autumn you can usually tour the region until October.
accommodation
Ideally located on the shores of Lake Constance: “Hotel Mozart”, Hauptstrasse 82, 9400 Rorschach / Switzerland, phone 00 41/7 18 44 47 47, www.mozart-rorschach.ch. Popular motorcycle meeting point and in the first row at the Santis: “Berghotel” Schwagalp, 9107 Schwagalp / Switzerland, phone 00 41/7 13 65 66 00, www.saentisbahn.ch. Modern living in a historical ambience on Lake Zurich: “Hotel Hirschen”, Fischmarktplatz 7, 8640 Rapperswil / Switzerland, phone 00 41/5 52 20 61 80, www.hirschen-rapperswil.ch. Quick to reach and ideal for a lake tour south of Lake Zurich: “Hotel Ramada”, Chaltenbodenstrasse 16, 8834 Schindellegi / Switzerland, phone 00 41/4 47 88 99 99, www.ramada-feusisberg.ch
Werel / Mairdumont
Four days motorcycle tour through eastern Switzerland.
Worth seeing
Romanshorn, Arbon and Rorschach are worthwhile stops on the shores of Lake Constance. St. Gallen is a World Heritage Site with its collegiate church and library. The Schwagalp-Santis suspension railway (www.saentisbahn.ch) offers breakfast on the Santis, sunrise or full moon rides to the summit. The Schwagalp with its mountain view is a popular meeting place for motorcyclists. The “Schnuggebock” restaurant in Teufen (aussere Egg 977, www.waldegg.ch) is also a small local museum. A large local museum in Urnasch is the Appenzell Museum of Customs (www.museum-urnaesch.ch), which is well worth seeing. You can find out everything about the famous Appenzeller at the Schwagalp Alpine Show Dairy or the Appenzeller Show Dairy in Stein (www.schaukaeserei.ch). Classic car restorer Bruno Ruegg can be found on Kaltbrunnerstrasse in Gommiswald (www.rueegg-oldtimer.ch).
literature
“Switzerland with Liechtenstein” by Neuenschwander / Schneider, Reise Know-How Verlag, 24.90 euros. INFO: Switzerland Tourism, free information phone 0 08 00/10 02 00 30, www.myswitzerland.com. Information about the regions is also available from Appenzellerland Tourism in Heiden (www.appenzellerland.ch), Lake Zurich Tourism in Rapperswil (www.zuerichsee.ch) or St. Gallen-Bodensee Tourism in St. Gallen (www.st.gallen-bodensee .ch).
map
The general map Switzerland, Eastern part / Central Switzerland, 1: 200,000, Marco Polo, 8.50 euros.
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