The Alpine tour of the Automobile Club of Switzerland in 1914
03/25/2011
No, this is not a picnic in the great outdoors, as was common in the pioneering days of the automobile. And since the word picnic is just as outdated as the activity itself, let's quickly look it up in the dictionary: "A picnic is a meal eaten outdoors, usually in a group. A picnic is often combined with an excursion."
Well, there's no denying that we're talking about a group and an outing here - but it's not a picnic, because the most important things are missing: the picnic baskets filled to the brim with delicacies, fine china tableware, a tea kettle, champagne, a clean spot away from the dusty road and a genuine British tweed blanket. And cows are certainly not tolerated among the distinguished "car people".
The photo was taken on June 30, 1914 from Urnerboden on the Klausen Pass. For this one day only, automobiles were given permission to cross the Klausen Pass by the sovereign cantonal governments of Uri and Glarus. At that time, the Klausen was still closed to automobile traffic. On the occasion of the Swiss National Exhibition in Bern, the Automobile Club of Switzerland organized an Alpine drive over the Klausen, Furka and Grimsel passes. No fewer than 83 cars were entered to prove their climbing ability on the dusty, steep ramps. The winner was Charles Dardel from Neuchâtel, the driver of a Martini from the automobile factory of the same name in St. Blaise.
And a correspondent reported: "In front of the gates of the National Exhibition in Bern, the vehicles covered in dust and dirt were presented to the astonished public. Not even the occupants had cleaned themselves beforehand, although in their circles a well-groomed appearance was very important!"
P.S. Certainly none of the Alpine drivers had any idea that only eight years later, the biggest and most difficult hill climb in Europe would start on the same route!
