Mythos Schweiz

Drawing upon more than 500 literary and journalistic texts, this study is the first post-war discussion of the phenomenon of German enthusiasm for Switzerland across a period of 150 years. The numerous expressions of opinion on Germany's immediate neighbour are seen here as a tacit mentality-based accord on the part of the writing fraternity as to what the 'right' image of Switzerland was supposed to be. This accord was so consistent that the prevalent debating points and the changing constituents of that idealized image can be traced and reconstructed accurately throughout the period 1700 to 1850.