The Sherlock Holmes Society of London is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Part of the celebration included the pilgrimage to Meiringen and re-enactment of the events of Reichenbach Day. As part of the event, each participant had to select a character and dress in Victorian costume for the entire trip. Without thinking, I selected Kitty Winter and then I thought I should have thought about that more, but it all worked out in the end. So, dear readers, I will regale you with stories of our doings, as well as a little Sherlockian adjacent side trip.
Our trip began in Lausanne, Switzerland, leaving from our
hotel and taking the metro to the Palais de Rumine (yes, we got a lot of looks
as you can imagine). Here we learned about the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Foundation and the collection located in this historic building. It includes
many photos of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, including some from his trips to
Switzerland. We then walked to the Atelier Typographique de la Cite, a
printer’s workshop owned by Nicolas Regamey of the Reichenbach Irregulars and
the London Society, where we drank wine and toured the print shop. Nicolas
provided all the menus, tickets, and programs for the entire event. I took the
opportunity to collect some souvenirs from the shop that are one of a kind as
you can see from the picture. I especially like the miniature set of “How
Watson Learned the Trick” in both English and French and the little house to
keep them in. We ended the evening with fondue at a local restaurant, more wine
and, as always, wonderful conversation with my Swiss and English compatriots.
Just when I was about to call it a night the Brotherhood
of Pirates of Ouchy (a group in Lausanne who have restored a 1932 boat now
called the Vaudoise) came to our table with 4 more bottles of wine and pronounced
we couldn’t leave until they were finished. Needless to say, I returned to the
hotel well past midnight, and apparently some stayed after the restaurant
closed to finish the bottles outside!
Figure 1: Victorian
Casual
Figure 2: Atelier
Typographique de la Cite Souvenirs & Pins from SHSL
The following morning, we road custom coaches to visit Lucens
where Adrian Conan Doyle had owned the chateau there. The Sherlock Holmes
Museum of Lucens now houses the collection that Adrian Conan Doyle previously
had in the chateau. I am always amazed to discover all of the collections that
I previously had no idea existed, apparently Sherlock Holmes and creator are
quite popular! It was beautiful afternoon with tea, lunch, and a tour of the chateau
and museum. In the evening we joined the aforementioned Pirates of Ouchy for a
sailboat ride on Lake Leman. It provided a wonderful view of the lake and Lausanne
from the water. We toured the Beau Rivage as well, where we dined that evening.
The Beau-Rivage
Palace is a luxury hotel that opened in 1861, has hosted many diplomatic
events and been visited by many famous and historical figures.
Figure 3: Chateau de
Lucens
Figure 4: Helene in
the ballroom at the Beaux-Rivage Palace
Figure 5:
Sherlockians on a boat
The third day of our trip, we rode the custom coaches to
visit the Charlie Chaplin Museum and then catch the Golden Pass Belle Epoque train,
with vintage-style carriages, for beautiful ride thru the Golden Pass by Lake
Geneva and amidst the Swiss Alps to our next stop for another coach ride to
take us to our final stop, the Park du Savage Hotel in Meiringen. That evening we had dinner at the Hotel
Victoria, where we enjoyed another lovely meal and more conversation. Holmes
told us all of his intent to climb to the falls to meet the villain Moriarty.
Of course, Moriarty made an appearance, to hisses from all in the room,
threatening our dear detective with meeting his end on the morrow. The scene
had been set.
Figure 6:
Sherlockians on a train
Figure 7: Park du
Savage aka Englischer Hof where our intrepid group stayed before the fateful
day
The next morning, in anticipation of the horrible events to follow our
group dressed in black to gather at the falls for the re-enactment. Followed by
photographers and film crews we made for quite the sight to passersby! A
Chinese tourist and avid Sherlock fan named Kitty (what serendipity!) walked
into our group of 60 plus Sherlockians in full Victorian regalia in amazement.
All to watch Sherlock and Moriarty’s fate play out in real time. Imagine her
surprise thinking she would simple visit the falls and finding the scene laid
out before her. It was wonderful to see her reaction and ear to ear grin as she
chatted with us and watched the events. After this, we had lunch at the
Gasthaus Zwirgi at the top of the falls. Tom Atkinson provided some history on
how the Granada TV filmed the struggle on location at the Reichenbach falls. To
end the afternoon, Holmes showed up to reveal that he had survived the falls!
We were delighted to discover that we would not have to endure waiting three
years as our poor Watson did.
Figure 8: Two
Sherlocks on a rock
Figure 9: Sherlock
& Watson before climbing the falls
Figure 10:
Waiting for the re-enactment
In the evening we had dinner at the Parkhotel du Savage and were treated
to a surprise special production of “An Incident in Meiringen”, a short mystery
that kept us all guessing whodunit? for the evening. Thank you to all our
players for their wonderful performances.
Figure 11:
Mystery Theatre with dinner
The next morning was time to say goodbye to everyone. What a
shock to see everyone wearing modern clothes. It was a challenge to recognize
people without their costumes, hairdos and fascinators. Peggy McFarlane
graciously joined me for a walk to get some Sherlock chocolates (they are
expensive but worth it), buy some more Swiss chocolates at the grocery store
and have a last little walk about the town before saying goodbye to everyone. I
must admit it was a relief to not have to deal with all the Victorian wear,
especially as I was heading to Germany to meet Sonia Yazmadjian to see the
Bavarian castles. Short summary, we had a great time, saw a lot of castles,
took a lot of trains, saw a lot of beautiful churches and some mountains and
Neo-Gothic architecture, had a lot of good food and a few refreshing beers with
many souvenirs secured.
After saying au revoir to Sonia, I headed for my last little
solo adventure before I would have to head home. I made a special trip to
Coburg to visit Schloss Rosenau, located just outside of Rodental. Schloss Rosenau was built around 1439 and has
a long history, but the important bit is that it was eventually bought in 1805
by Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. It was renovated in the Gothic
Revival style. The surrounding grounds and park were redesigned in an English
Garden style, to include an orangery, a sun-dial and two water features called
Prince’s Pond and my ultimate goal for the trip, Swan Lake. This was the summer
house of Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Louise. This is the
castle where Prince Albert was born. He was baptized in the Marble Hall with
water from the River Itz, which winds thru the grounds around the castle. This
is where Prince Albert spent a good part of his childhood and where he last
visited before leaving Germany to successfully court Queen Victoria. Queen
Victoria herself visited Rosenau and said in her diary that had she not been
the Queen of England she would have gladly spent the rest of her days there. It
is believed that the black swans were placed in Swan Lake on the behest of
Queen Victoria after Prince Albert’s death to signify her grief at his loss. To
this day there are still a pair of these beautiful birds, called the “mourning
swans”, in residence there. I have nicknamed them Drina and Bertie because I
have my reasons (if you know, you know) AND I adore them. I plan to visit
again. It is hard to disagree with a queen’s opinion, especially when she is so
correct. This would indeed be a happy place to spend the rest of your days.
Figure 12:
Schloss Rosenau
Figure 13:
THE Black Swans
Again, dear readers, another adventure is over but if you
are interested in seeing more details of the re-enactment and trip in general,
the Associated Press, Brigitte Latella and a wonderful photographer followed us
around. Links provided here for your perusal (Sherlock
Holmes Fans Recreate Fateful Duel and Brigitte Latella's Report in Italian). Ciao, auf
wiedersehen and au revoir until the next opportunity for Sherlockian
shenanigans presents itself!
