Geneva - Literary and Cultural Crossroads

Shortly after HWMBO arrived here earlier this month, but before the frenzy of later events, commitments, projects and illnesses, the two of us joined members of our local writing group for a literary tour of Old Town (la Vieille Ville) Geneva.  We timed our 8:45 departure for Geneva to coincide with the last vestiges of the "Rush Hour" but discovered that it still took us a good hour to make it into town, through the international organizations section, across the Mont Blanc bridge and into the eponymous underground parking area there.  This left us a scant 15 minutes to make our way on foot from the parking up to the fountain in the Place du Bourg de Four in the center of the Vieille Ville so as not to be late for the 10:00 meeting time.

We were the first to arrive.  Other members of the group - we were about 12 in all - ambled in more or less on time and we all introduced ourselves.  As we later learned, some had driven from as far afield as Fribourg, making our own little junket seem minimal in comparison.  We all agreed, however, that the morning's traffic had been nothing less than cauchemaresque (nightmarish).  The weather was also quite brisk so we were very glad to have bundled ourselves up warmly.  Our guide, a British expatriate who has worked for Geneva Tourism for years and who now considers Geneva her home, has made a speciality of researching writers throughout the ages who have come to Geneva, who have either been inspired by or had experiences here that have resonated so that they committed them to paper for all of us to share.  To begin with, she led with a major Heavy Hitter.  The first written mention of Geneva that she had found was from the notable historical character, Julius Caesar, who already had quite an illustrious military career behind him before his destiny led him to Geneva.

The reference to Geneva dated from 58 B.C., when Caesar had arrived at the western tip of the lake, believing that it was the source of the mighty Rhône river.   He didn't have the benefit of our later knowledge that the river originates in the Alps southeast of Lake Geneva.  Even if he had had that knowledge, it probably would not have made a major difference in how events ultimately played out.  Caesar came to the Geneva area specifically to confront the Helvetii, a Celtic tribe living in what is now central Switzerland.  The Helvetii planned to move to southwestern Gaul (now France) - by force if necessary - to settle on what the tribe believed were more fertile lands there.  The Helvetti feature prominently in Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico (Commentaries on the Gallic Wars).  Thus, Caesar provides the first known literary reference to Geneva in those commentaries.  A spirited recap of Caesar's Geneva campaign and its aftermath can be found here.

Geneva continued to attract notable travellers, poets and writers throughout the centuries, in part due to its geography.  It is, after all, a central crossing point between northern and southern Europe, as well as between western and eastern Europe.  Other personalities, events and influences contributed to its international attractions.  When Romans were converted to Christianity, for example, they brought Roman Catholicism to the area.  But during the Reformation, French-speaking Geneva invited Jean Calvin to come from Basel where he had initially sought asylum.  Thus, the formerly Catholic St. Peter's Cathedral became a Protestant Cathedral - and remains so today.

A group of touring students felt comfortable enough to rest on the Cathedral's steps.

As a result of Calvin's influence, Geneva became a center of religious reform, as well as a center of religious freedom and, especially later with Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the 18th century, free thought.  In the 19th century particularly, Geneva came into its literary own.  Members of the British aristocracy often travelled through the area, especially on their way to the sunny climate of Italy. 

Many of these were writers who were literally enchanted by the breathtaking scenery and some stayed on a bit, notably the poets Lord Byron and Percy Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, who became Shelley's second wife.  She wrote her Gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein, while spending a cold rainy summer on the banks of Lake Geneva.

Russian writers seeking refuge from debt-collectors or penurious Russian aristocrats also spent time in Geneva.  That is especially ironic, considering how expensive the cost of living in this area is now.

While doing research for this post, I happened upon an article from the New York Times, dating from 1919, noting that it was hardly by chance that Geneva was selected to be the site of the League of Nations.  Writer Julian Grande states rather grandiosely, "By selecting Geneva as the site of the League of Nations, the city of Calvin and Rousseau, of the Reformation and the Red Cross, and of refugees in all times, has now become the capital of the world."  Unfortunately, things did not turn out too well for the League of Nations.  But its successor entity, the United Nations, while headquartered politically in New York City in the United States, has left most operational functions to its major European office, the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), which is actually headquartered in the Palais des Nations where delegates to the former League of Nations met.  Geneva is referred to by UNOG as the "Heart of Europe."

Is it any wonder that so many of us latter-day travellers also love this area?