The Postcard
A postcard that was published by Perrochet-Matile of Lausanne featuring an image that is a real photograph. The card was posted in Territet, Montreux. The stamp has been removed, along with the date of posting.
The card was posted to:
Miss D. Hawking,
230, St. James' Road,
Bermondsey,
London S.E. 1,
England.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Montreux.
Dear Olive,
I am so sorry that you
have not had your
slipper cards - the
parcel was sent on to
me and I have been
unable to get hold of
it.
If you still want them
next time you may have
them, otherwise I will
give you your money
back.
With love,
Norah Tillinghurst".
Montreux
Montreux is a Swiss town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It has a population of approximately 26,400. Montreux has been an important tourist destination since the 19th. century because of its scenery and its mild climate.
The region includes numerous Belle Époque palaces and hotels near the shores of Lake Geneva. Montreux railway station is a stop on the Simplon Railway, and is a mountain railway hub.
History of Montreux
The earliest settlement was a Late Bronze Age village at Baugy. Montreux lies on the north east shore of Lake Geneva at the fork in the Roman road from Italy over the Simplon Pass, where the roads to the Roman capital of Aventicum and the road into Gaul through Besançon separated.
This made it an important settlement in the Roman era. A Roman villa from the 2nd.-4th. centuries and a 6th.–7th. century cemetery have been discovered.
In the 12th. century, viticulture was introduced to the region, and the sunny slopes of the lake from Lavaux to Montreux became an important wine-growing region.
The region was subject to various princes, most notably the princes of Savoy from the south side of the lake. They unified the territory which comprises the present canton of Vaud and were generally popular sovereigns.
After the Burgundian Wars in the 15th. century, the Swiss in Bern occupied the region without resistance, an indication of the weakness of the princes of Savoy. Under Bernese rule (1536–1798) it belonged to the Bailiwick of Chillon (renamed in 1735 into the Bailiwick of Vevey).
The Reformation made the region around Montreux and Vevey an attractive haven for Huguenots from Italy, who brought their artisanal skills and set up workshops and businesses.
The abbey of Les Echarpes blanches was founded in 1626.
In 1798, Napoleon liberated the region from the Bernese. In the 19th. century, the tourist industry became a major commercial outlet, with the grand hotels of Montreux attracting the rich and cultured from Europe and America.
Culture
Montreux was a haven for Catherine Barkley and Lt. Frederic Henry in Ernest Hemingway's classic novel A Farewell to Arms.
Montreux hosts several festivals:
-- The September Musical de Montreux, founded in 1946 and held every year since then.
-- Freddie Celebration Day takes place on or near the 5th. September, the birthday of Freddie Mercury, late singer of the band Queen.
-- The Montreux Jazz Festival, held annually in July since 1967. It is held at the Montreux Convention Centre, built in 1973, and has become a global phenomenon.
-- The Golden Rose Festival, annually in spring (1961–2003), which awards the Golden Rose of Montreux, an international award for television. Queen appeared in 1984 and in 1986 at the Golden Rose Festival, and Queen guitarist Brian May appeared in 2001 at the Jazz Festival. Montreux was also the subject of the 1995 Queen single "A Winter's Tale" on the album Made in Heaven, one of Freddie's last songs before his death on November 24, 1991.
-- The Golden Award of Montreux, annually in April since 1989, is the first international advertising and multimedia competition in Europe – starting the global season for awarding creative excellence.
Montreux has a walking trail along the lake, stretching from Villeneuve to Vevey. The main square of the town, Place du Marché, features a statue of Freddie Mercury facing Lake Geneva. The Château of Chillon has views over the Lake of Geneva, and can be accessed via bus, train, walk or boat.
Deep Purple
Deep Purple travelled to Montreux in December 1971 in order to record Machine Head. The band's song "Smoke on the Water" tells of the events of December 1971, when a Frank Zappa fan with a flare gun set the Montreux Casino on fire, destroying the casino where they had originally planned to record the album.
Thanks to Claude Nobs who arranged an alternative location, the Grand Hotel was where the album was created and recorded, except for Smoke on the Water which was recorded at La Petit Palais on Rue du Lac.
Deep Purple again returned in 1973 to record Burn. The Montreux Casino was reopened in 1975, and later a monument commemorating Deep Purple and their song Smoke on the Water was built next to the casino.
Mountain Studios
Montreux is the home of Mountain Studios, a popular recording studio. "Bonzo's Montreux" by Led Zeppelin is named after the city where the drums session of John Bonham was recorded in 1976.
In 1978, the band Queen bought the studio. It was then sold to Queen producer David Richards. In 2002, the Mountain Studios was converted into a bar as part of a complete renovation of the studio.
Notable Residents of Montreux
Notable Residents of Montreux include:
-- Pyotr Iliych Tchaikovsky.
-- Claude Abravanel (1924–2012) a pianist and composer of classical music.
-- Ian Anderson (born 1947), Scottish musician, frontman of Jethro Tull.
-- Alain Bernheim (born 1931) former musician, now Masonic researcher.
-- Jim Beach (born 1942) the manager of the British rock band Queen.
-- David Bowie (1947–2016), British singer and musician.
-- Sergei Aleksandrovich Buturlin (1872–1938), Russian ornithologist.
-- Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz (1851–1924), Governor General of Dutch East Indies.
-- Noël Coward (1899–1973), English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer.
-- A. J. Cronin (1896–1981), Scottish novelist and physician.
-- Laurent Dufaux (born 1969), Swiss cyclist.
-- Jean Villard Gilles (1895–1982) a chansonnier, poet, comedian, actor and cabaret artist.
-- Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980) an Austrian poet, playwright and expressionistic artist.
-- Zelda Fitzgerald (1900–1948), wife of American author F. Scott Fitzgerald.
-- Freddie Mercury (1946–1991), British musician, lead singer of Queen.
-- Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977), a Russian-born novelist, poet, translator and entomologist.
-- Claude Nobs (1939–2013), Swiss founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival.
-- Luc Plamondon (born 1942), French-Canadian lyricist.
-- Dame Joan Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE (1926–2010), Australian opera singer.
-- Horst Tappe (1938–2005), German photographer of creative artists, writers and philosophers.
Pyotr Iliych Tchaikovsky (1840–1893), Russian composer.
-- Franz Weber (born 1927), an environmentalist and animal welfare activist.
-- Ardeshir Zahedi (born 1928), former Iranian foreign minister and son-in-law of Shah of Iran.