Swiss tradition
The Landsgemeinde de Glaris under the gaze of the whole world
The 700 -year -old institution is found in the “National Geographic”, which affects approximately 84 million readers. Towards a massive tourist influx?
The Glandes authorities wish to preserve the political authenticity of this ancestral tradition.
KEYSTONE
La Landsgemeinde de Glaris draws the attention of the “National Geographic”. The famous magazine, which affects around 84 million readers around the world, has devoted An illustrated report to this 700 -year -old democratic institution. The article is entitled «No polls, no machines, just hands in the air» – “No surveys, no machines, just raised hands”.
The magazine, which the canton describes as “probably the best known and most influential” in the field of culture and nature, thus dispatched journalist Nadia Beard and photographer Davide Monteleone on the Place de Glaris on May 4, SRF. This media coverage offers significant visibility to the canton of Glaris for its unique democratic tradition.
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“The best possible model of democracy”
The Landammann Kaspar Becker confirms that it was informed of the presence of the journalistic team during the event. He underlines the difficulty of presenting this institution in a few sentences: “We always see astonished faces when they start to understand how special we have here,” he explains. The photo session also reserved cultural surprises in the magistrate.
“With the photographer, I tried to have a friendly face. But he told me that it was Anglo-Saxon photography and that it was necessary to look serious. Now when I look at the photo, it’s terrible, ”jokes Kaspar Becker. The interview with the journalist, conducted in English, represented a particular challenge to explain unquivalent concepts in this language.
The Landammann Kaspar Becker (at G.) was not allowed to smile at the photographer for the report of the “National Geographic”, as in this photo taken during a Landsgemeinde.
KEYSTONE
“Many words do not exist in English. Memorialsantrag, Rural community, Border – You have to explain everything. It was complicated, ”explains the Landammann. He recognizes that the editor’s task was certainly not easy to transform her explanations into a coherent article. Despite these linguistic obstacles, the result makes it possible to make the whole world discover what Kaspar Becker considers “the best possible model of democracy”.
No “Disneyland” effect in Glaris
This international recognition makes the magistrate proud and confirms, according to him, that the landsgemeinde is “something wonderful that we must take care of”. Does Kaspar Becker fear a global tourist influx? “It is a double -edged weapon: the landsgemeinde is not a folk event. It is the highest political authority in the canton, ”he insists. The Landammann hopes that the institution will not turn into a tourist attraction of the “Disneyland” type, which according to him is counterproductive.
“But, to be honest, I don’t believe it either,” he tempers. As for a possible jealousy of the canton of Appenzell Rhodes-interior, the only other Swiss canton to maintain a Landsgemeinde, Kaspar Becker does not believe it. He attributes the choice of glaris by the “National Geographic” to “pure chance”.
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