A visit to Zurich took place in April, following the kind invitation of Feltmaker, Rene Kalt, and the Waag Zunftmeister, Philippe Welti, to visit the annual Sechselauten.
This is a cracking, three day cultural insight into the handcraft guilds of the city, ending with the parade and burning of the Boog on a bonfire to mark the end of the winter and, in folklore, determines the bounty of the harvest. We toured the city, enjoying the local gastronomy in the Waaghaus, which is a fine 16th century guildhall, and met members of several other guilds.
The highlights must surely include the turning of the fountain from water into wine, which our Master, Bill Gammell, supervised very closely.
We also were guests for an amazing Ball on the Saturday evening, after which we moved on to other guild houses where Swiss techno and beat music was more the theme until the early hours.
Our experienced PM David Bentata, guided us through the niceties of Zurich etiquette and the city streets, and Gilly and Alan Yarrow led the Feltmaker contingent, along with Simon Wood and Lucy Wood and Mike and Gilly Dudgeon (Mercers Company). Assistant Wood also managed to row on the Zuricher See with the Grasshoppers Rowing Club.
We thank our hosts from the Waag, especially former Guildmaster Rene Kalt and Secretary Andreas Jaeger and his wife Suzanna for their terrific and warm Gastfreundschaft.
We look forward to welcoming the 170 members of the Waag and their marching band to the City of London for the Lord Mayor’s Show on 9th November 2019.
