Schaffhausen. March 1993
After visiting the famously disappointing Rheinfall [see: Rheinfall], on our way back to Germany we had to pass through Schaffhausen. I insisted to MAP that we make a brief stop for some photo ops because it was my first time in Switzerland and I didn't want to leave without at least seeing ONE city.
On a map, Schaffhausen is a bulge of territory north of the Rhine which looks like it should be part of Germany. In fact, there are only a four such Swiss enclaves across the Rhine and Schaffhausen is the largest. The only thing I knew about the place was that I saw the name occasionally on Swiss watches at duty free shops in airports. Zurich, Geneva, Lugano, Zermatt - everyone knew these places, but Schaffhausen? Not really.
Schaffhausen had mostly benefitted from centuries old Swiss neutrality, so it was a lovely Germanic city with an historic renaissance core. Its castle on the hill embraced a vineyard - I think that was my favorite part of the whole place! Whoever built the castle certainly had his priorities in order - wine is the stuff of life! As it turned out, Schaffhausen was an independent city-state in the 11th century. It was later taken over by the Hapsburgs for a few centuries. The residents maintained their quasi-independence and since the city had managed its financial affairs so adeptly, it was "rich". The Hapsburgs being cash strapped (no doubt after all the palace building) let Schaffhausen "buy" its independence for a much needed influx of liquidity in 1416. In 1501 the city joined the Swiss confederacy and has been an integral part of Switzerland ever since (its territorial misplacement across the Rhine notwithstanding).
One sad and shocking historical footnote about the city was its bombing during World War II. In the days before GPS where planes literally flew by landmarks on the ground, a squadron of US bombers mistook Schaffhausen for Germany and bombed it. The air raid sirens went off, but it had happened so many times before, the residents ignored them. In total, 40 people died and President Roosevelt sent a personal apology and a big chunk of cash to the city. Talk about a "whoops"!!
We only briefly stopped in Schaffhausen and soon had to return to Stuttgart as our time was limited. Thus ends the side story of Matt's First Trip to Switzerland which is linked to Matt's First Big German Adventure. The ancestral village, a waterfall, and a city - it might not have been much, but at least I had visited Switzerland.
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