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Regional identity

A regional nature park can only exist in the long-term if the people who live there help to support it. The park inhabitants should identify themselves with the nature park and be proud to be a part of it.

In order to create this identity, the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park repeatedly provides impulses in the project “Regional Identity”, which are tied to the tradition of the region. We tell stories, show the singularity of our dialects, and revive old songs.

Old lady whispering into a child's earDialect © Pfyn-Finges Nature Park

Dialect © Pfyn-Finges Nature Park

Dialects

The diversity of the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park is again echoed in its dialects. The park area does not only include two language regions. Each municipality speaks its own accentuated dialect.

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Landscape in Change

Landscapes shape both inhabitants and visitors of a region. They are the epitome of homeland for many people. The following short films shows examples of how landscapes are anything but static. The “Nature Park” label distinguishes the landscape of the 12 park municipalities as one of the most beautiful and authentic in Switzerland.

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Folk song festival

The Pfyn-Finges Nature Park has dedicated itself to the traditional folk song festival. From this arose a community project with over 100 artists. Singers, dancers, musicians and the Gebirgspoeten (mountain poets) interpreted the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park in a musical fashion.

Go tu recordings
Stone bridgeTeufelsbrücke, Leuk © Christian Pfammatter

Teufelsbrücke, Leuk © Christian Pfammatter

Cultural assets

Many cultural assets in the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park tell their inherent stories from the past. However, information is mainly lacking for the visitor. The nature park aims at developing an information concept that demonstrates the uniqueness of the cultural assets (e.g. the old avalanche protection structures in Leukerbad, that were built out of massive stone walls)

Photo by Scott Kelley on UnsplashPhoto by Scott Kelley on Unsplash

Photo by Scott Kelley on Unsplash

The musical nature park

Music is a major topic in the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park. Music bands, church choirs, choral societies and groups are an important part of village life as associations in the park municipalities. Music creates identity. For this reason the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park also always presents itself from its musical aspect. 

On behalf of the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park, the Varen musician Anselmo Loretan has written a fascinating article about “Old instrumental folk music in the municipalities of Pfyn-Finges Nature Park”.

On the 9th and 10th of June, the Salgesch children’s choir are performing the musical “Finya”, in which our mascot plays the leading role.

Church bells

The sounds of the church bells are as diversified as the dialects in the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park. Each parish church has its own special chimes that have a different sound depending on the event and time of day.

To the sounds

Writers

On behalf of the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park, the well-known Swiss historian and writer Wilfried Meichtry has written a book "Hexenplatz und Mörderstein” (Witches Circle and Murderer’s Stone). Born in Leuk, he tells exciting stories from his childhood and takes the reader back into the past. Encounters with robbers, wild beasts but also personalities such as Corinna Bille and Maurice Chappaz make this book an experience. It can be obtained in the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park and in accredited book shops.

The lyricist Rolf Hermann also comes from the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park. His homeland is a repeated topic in his book, and too in his latest work "Das Leben ist ein Steilhang” (Life is a precipice), obtainable here.

In 2015 the Pfyn-Finges Nature Park realised a writing project at the secondary school in Leuk. A small volume emerged in which the young people interpreted their homeland in their own unique manner.

Old photo of a river with bridge and some buildingsLeuk © Carlo Schmidt

Leuk © Carlo Schmidt

Photographs and Films

Numerous private persons have photos and films at their disposal that document the cultural heritage of the region and its development. The nature park is working on processing appropriate material so that it will be accessible to a wide audience.