People by the water - Close to the Aare (Swiss Press Text 2015, by Katharina Rilling) - Swiss Press Award

Zytglogge Verlag

Katharina Rilling

Biologists, divers, fishermen, boat builders, and captains – they are all connected by the Aare; the longest river, which belongs solely to the Swiss. It shapes not only the landscapes it flows through, but also its people. These Aare people are the focus: for example, the diver Markus Flury from Altreu, who stumbled upon skull bones in the depths of his river and discovered living monsters: the giant catfish. Or the fisherman Hans Sieber from Lake Thun, who has been hauling in his nets with iron persistence and little pay for twenty years. Or Steffen Schweizer, who, as head of aquatic ecology for the Oberhasli power plants, would not be happy without his river. And also the Aare swimmer who entrusts herself to the river winter and summer, the pontoon pioneer, the wave artist, a songwriter, a manufacturer, a maritime policewoman, an underwater photographer and many more. The portraits deal with the here and now, the past and the future, but always reflect the regional peculiarities of the Aare.