Word: altdorfers
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Aside from being the cradle of the federation, this is also William Tell country: near Rütli is the town of Altdorf, where the legendary peasant farmer is reputed to have shot an apple from his son's head and then despatched the Austrian bailiff who forced him to do it. All around is the mountain scenery that inspired Rossini's operatic homage to the Tell legend. It is breathtakingly beautiful, yet remains largely unknown outside Switzerland. (See 50 essential travel tips...
With its charming cafés and restaurants, Altdorf makes a natural pit stop. Be sure to visit the statue of Tell and his son, which marks the spot where the apple-shooting incident supposedly took place. "We can't say for sure that Tell ever existed but we don't care," says Ralph Aschwanden, a local journalist and historian. "Man or myth, he is important to us as a symbol of our national identity...
Pastor Hall (United Artists) is redder meat. Its central character, loosely drawn from famed jailed, nonconformist Pastor Martin Niemböller, is a man whom the Nazi whirlwind strikes where it hurts most, his conscience. When Storm Troopers move into the drowsy little village of Altdorf to give it some political training, Pastor Hall (Wilfrid Lawson) tries hard to understand what the new gospel is about. What happens when he does, and winds up in a concentration camp, is uncomfortably close to modern crucifixion. Released by his friends, Pastor Hall is about to escape when across the street he hears...
Characteristically, the German press built up a horror campaign, screaming that Polish excesses toward Germans were "increasing in an alarming manner." In the village of Altdorf, said one report, "three Germans were beaten by Poles with clubs and wire whips and injured considerably because they spoke German." German divisions were moved up to Poland's western border. On their part, the Poles ordered Polish Nazis to take off their distinctive white socks, and moved new divisions into place opposite the German Army concentrations. In Danzig itself, newspapers reported that Adolf Hitler would be made an honorary citizen...
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