Chessiloch heraldic rock complex

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Heraldic rock complex Chessiloch near Grellingen BL
Guard post in Chessiloch (First World War)

The heraldic rock complex Chessiloch (also Kessiloch ) near Grellingen (Canton Basel-Landschaft ) was created by Swiss soldiers during the First World War . The complex is considered one of the most important military cultural monuments in Switzerland.

history

Between 1914 and 1918 over 60 army units stood guard at the railway bridges in Chessiloch near Grellingen. Their task was to secure the Jura line , especially the Lower and Upper Chessiloch Bridge over the Birs . This railway line was the connection to the border troops in the Ajoie .

The work on the rocks began when an army member carved the coat of arms of his canton and the numbers of his unit into the stone. Subsequent teams tried to outperform the previous works, with over 60 works being chiseled and painted in the rock during the active service.

After the Swiss troops were engaged in the first months after mobilization in August 1914 with trench and Hindernisbauten, returned to the emergency standby and guard services and regular drill exercises one a monotonous daily life. The military men are said to have created these works in their spare time and primarily out of boredom and homesickness.

On the 20th anniversary of the outbreak of war, the facility was renovated and redesigned in 1934. On this occasion, the heraldic stones relocated to the Bern Historical Museum in 1918 (Laufen belonged to the Canton of Bern at the time) were brought back to their place and the tradition of the annual “Chessiloch shooting” began. The facility was also expanded during the Second World War . The Chessiloch heraldic rock complex is thus "one of the testimonies of the spiritual national defense " and is considered a "place of remembrance where the Réduit idea and the assertion of national peculiarity have found a vivid, artistic implementation."

description

At first glance, the large number of Swiss and cantonal coats of arms is particularly striking (e.g. Aargau , Solothurn , Ticino and Lucerne ). In addition, the rocks are adorned with emblems of the units that did their service in Chessiloch. In addition, landscape depictions of Bern, Lucerne and the St. Gallen monastery as well as mythological figures such as Wilhelm Tell and Helvetia can be recognized. General Ulrich Wille , Chief of Staff Theophil Sprecher von Bernegg and Treytorrens de Loys , commander of the 2nd division, are immortalized in the form of sculptures .

literature

Web links

Commons : Chessiloch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Office for Spatial Development Basel-Landschaft, cultural monuments in Grellingen
  2. ↑ AV The Swiss Soldier, 1934: Soldier Monument in the Kessiloch. Retrieved August 28, 2019 .
  3. ^ Radio SRF 2 Kultur (context), First World War: Boredom and Homesickness in Chessiloch, broadcast on July 14, 2014.
  4. ^ Renovation of the soldier memorial in Kessiloch near Grellingen BE, 1934–1935. In: E27 # 1000/721 # 14082 *

Coordinates: 47 ° 26 ′ 17 "  N , 7 ° 34 ′ 16"  E ; CH1903:  609,994  /  254149