In Clumsy Shoes and a Bumpy Carriage - The Everyday Life of Travellers around 1800

For travelers in the late 18th century, a stay in the mountains was a real adventure. They were exploring a part of the world that they had previously only known by hearsay. As a result, they were reliant on a wealth of information, even about such seemingly banal things as "remedies for thirst".

Jakob Samuel Weibel, Le Staubbach dans la Vallée de Lauterbrounen, from: Voyage pittoresque de l'Oberland bernois, 1807, outline etching and aquatint, colored.

In the mountains, the travelers also found themselves exposed to very different weather conditions. They were protected from the cold and wet by so-called "Wachsleinewand" coats, which, as their name suggests, were coated with wax. However, if the weather was fine, they were almost constantly exposed to the sun.

Jakob Samuel Weibel, La Cascade de Reichenbach dans la Vallée d'Oberhasle, from: Voyage pittoresque de l'Oberland bernois, 1807, outline etching and aquatint, colored.

As far as the means of travel was concerned, there were various options: you could walk, travel by boat, ride on horseback - or make yourself comfortable in a carriage. However, the enclosed carriage had one major disadvantage: you could see less of the landscape you were traveling through.

Jakob Samuel Weibel, Vue de la Ville de Thoune, from: Voyage pittoresque de l'Oberland bernois, 1807, outline etching and aquatint, coloured.

Traveling alone or in company - even in the late 18th century, both options were available. If you were traveling with a group, the costs, for example the wages for the boatmen, were spread over several shoulders.

Jakob Samuel Weibel, Vue du Chateau de Spiez au Lac de Thoune, from: Voyage pittoresque de l'Oberland bernois, 1807, outline etching and aquatint, coloured.

The advantage of traveling on foot was seen in the fact that you could interrupt the hike at any time for a moment to take a closer look at something, talk to someone or enjoy nature.

Jakob Samuel Weibel, La Cime de la Jungfrau dans la vallée de Lauterbrounen, from: Voyage pittoresque de l'Oberland bernois, 1807, outline etching and aquatint, colored.

If you were traveling on foot, it was a good idea to use the services of a porter. Some of them were also guides and spoke foreign languages. They helped travelers to find their way through the labyrinth of mountains. Johann Gottfried Ebel always used the services of the same travel companion (Ebel 1809-1810, I, pp. 42-45).

Jakob Samuel Weibel, Le Glacier de Schwarzwald sur le Mont Scheidek dans la Vallée d'Oberhasle, from: Voyage pittoresque de l'Oberland bernois, 1807, outline etching and aquatint, colored.

In addition to the freedom of movement, traveling on foot had another advantage: the opportunity to meet the local population. Two worlds came together:  a wealthy European upper class on the one hand, on the other peasants in poor circumstances who had often seen little more of the world than the area in which they lived.

Jakob Samuel Weibel, Le Glacier de Rosenlauvi sur le Mont Scheidek dans la Vallée d'Oberhasle, from: Voyage pittoresque de l'Oberland bernois, 1807, outline etching and aquatint, colored.

In the meantime, artists were not always welcome guests. In his travel guide, Johann Gottfried Ebel wrote in "Nothwendige Regeln für die Reisenden in den Gebirgen" (Necessary rules for travelers in the mountains) that anyone drawing in nature must be careful not to attract the suspicion of the local population.

Jakob Samuel Weibel, Vue du Village de Brienz, from: Voyage pittoresque de l'Oberland bernois, 1807, outline etching and aquatint, colored.

The suspicion of the local people had to do with the fact that they saw drawing as a kind of espionage, behind which they suspected other, less harmless interests than the artistic and aesthetic interest in nature. The scepticism found its linguistic expression in the term "draw land", which at the time meant the production of a draft.

Jakob Samuel Weibel, La Cascade de Giesbach au Lac de Brienz, from: Voyage pittoresque de l'Oberland bernois, 1807, outline etching and aquatint, colored.

The range of souvenirs that the travelers took home included - in addition to the works of the small masters - figures carved from wood and rock crystals. The luggage also contained items found on site, such as stones and plants. It's thus no wonder that a plant press was part of the "travel equipment for pedestrians".

Jakob Samuel Weibel, Ruine d'Unspunen pres d'Interlaken, from: Voyage pittoresque de l'Oberland bernois, 1807, outline etching and aquatint, colored.