Yellow signposts have been showing hikers the way for 90 years
Published: Sunday, Dec 15th 2024, 11:10
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The foundation stone for hiking in Switzerland was laid 90 years ago: On December 15, 1934, the Swiss Association for Hiking Trails (now the Association of Swiss Hiking Trails) was founded. The yellow signposts were created at the same time.
It was the rise of the car that led to the founding of the association, according to the Swiss Hiking Trail Association. With the spread of the car in the 1920s, there was also growing discontent among people who were on foot and were increasingly being forced off the road by cars.
A turning point in the history of the Swiss hiking movement turned out to be a hike by a Zurich secondary school class over the Klausen Pass between Uri and Glarus. Their teacher, Johann Jakob Ess from eastern Switzerland, took the initiative. As the children struggled along the side of the road through noise, dust and exhaust fumes, he recognized the need for paths specially marked for pedestrians.
With his friend Otto Binder, then secretary of the Pro Juventute Foundation and the Association of Swiss Youth Hostels, he began to mark out hiking routes in the city of Zurich that led from streetcar terminuses out into nature.
All signposts dismantled
In 1933, the two founded the Zürcherische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Wanderwege. Interest also grew in other cantons. Just one year later, around 40 delegates met on December 15 to found the Swiss Hiking Trail Association. On the same day, yellow boards with black lettering were decided upon as the signpost type to be used throughout Switzerland.
During the Second World War (1939-1945), the signposts were all dismantled by order of the Swiss army, collected and stored until the end of the war. This was done so as not to make it any easier for invading troops to find their way.
Hiking is a trend sport today. Around 58 percent of the population over the age of 15 hikes regularly. Hiking has been on the list of living traditions in Switzerland since 2023.
©Keystone/SDA
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