High watch
In Switzerland, the Hochwachten (also called Chutzen or in the French signal ) designated signal points on mountain peaks or at prominent locations. They were used to pass messages or an alarm.
The Hochwachten usually consisted of a guard hut and a swiveling resin pan on a gallows-like frame . With this pan, optical signals were passed on from mountain to mountain, so troops could be organized or alerted to dangers. During the day this was done through smoke , at night through fire and in foggy conditions through mortars .
This type of alert was known in the Bern area from the middle of the 15th century and in original Switzerland from 1529. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the network of signal points was significantly expanded. Bern had 156 Hochwachten between the Rhine and Lake Geneva , 51 Thurgau , 33 Freiburg , 23 Zurich and Lucerne .
The Hochwachten alarm system was very fast: in the canton of Zurich, for example, all 23 Hochwachten could pass the signal on in 15 minutes. The most famous Hochwachten were in the canton of Zurich on the Lägern , the Irchel and the Uetliberg .
The Hochwachten system was last used in 1870 during the Franco-German War . The most Swiss National inflamed bonfires are sometimes interpreted as a memory of this high Wachten.
From the time of high Wachten still have place names or place names like Chutzen , Guggershörnli , Hochwacht , Hohwacht , Pfannenstiel , Wachthubel and signal (. In French Switzerland; eg Signal de Bougy ) survived.