Myths and Legends of Switzerland

Switzerland is a country known for its mountains and lakes. The magnificent Alpine range of mountains crosses thru this country and over 100 lakes are nestled in this land. The numerous mountains and lakes are replete with folklore on tails of the unseen and the mystery that these natural wonders hold.

Lake Dwellers

One of the famous lakes in Switzerland is Lake Zurich  situated in the city of Zurich itself.  The legend has that Zurich which is now considered one of the world's  most expensive, urban and high on happiness index cities was first home to people known as 'lake dwellers'. These people started  settling in Zurich around 4300 BC and built wooden houses which rested above the water level on wooden poles. Many artifacts confirming the existence of these people have been found from Lake Zurich and preserved in Meuseums. 

1. Witch Craft

In Europe,  right from the classical era  (8-5BC) to the Medieval era (5-BC to 15 AD ) it was widely believed that witches existed. Anyone believed to be practicing witchcraft was persecuted with punishment as severe as execution of not just the women considered to be a witch but also of her rest of the family.

Witch-phobia and prosecutions for the crime of witchcraft reached a highpoint from 1580 to 1620 when an estimated 50,000 persons were burned at the stake or hanged of which roughly 80% were women, and most often over the age of 40. 

One such women was Michée Chauderon. She died  in 1652  and Swas the last person to be executed for sorcery in the city of Geneva.

She worked as a washerwoman and was accused of theft by her employer leading to an argument. The employer then reported her for having summoned a demon into the body of their daughter. Chauderon was arrested and interrogated. The so-called devil's mark was found on her body, and she was tortured. While undergoing the torture tecnique of strappado wherein the victim's hands are tied behind his or her back and suspended by a rope attached to the wrists, typically resulting in dislocated shoulders the she admitted that one day, she had met  the devil n her garden in the shape of a black man with the feet of a cow and he had promised her wealth if she denounced God, which she had done. She was then judged guilty of sorcery and sentenced to be hanged and burned.

The last person to be executed for practicing witchcraft in Switzerland was to be  Anna Goldi in 1782. Anna was 31 when she gave birth but her baby died the first night it was born She was pilloried which is a form of torture in which  the head and hand of a person are secured in holes of a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a postand. Following this she was sentenced to six years of house arrest.She  subsequently escaped and started working as a maid.

Göldi began working as a maid for the Tschudi family in 1780. Her employer reported her for having put needles in the bread and milk of one of his daughters, apparently through supernatural means.  Göldi was arrested and, under Torture admitted to entering in a pact with the Devil who had appeared to her as a black dog. She withdrew her confession after the torture ended, but was sentenced to execution by decapitation . 

Dragons of the Alps

The people of the villages rounder the Alps widely believed that Dragons lived in the alps. These were either serpents with a cat face or huge lizards with multiple tails. The people believed that whenever a dragon was spotted in the Alps, a storm followed.

Creatures of the lakes

It is widely believed that beneath the great lakes lie mystical creatures . These powerful beings can create havoc if disturbed.