The Villette-Park with its impressive tree population was artistically created in the English style in 1865. If you enjoy cultivated garden architecture, this is a must-see – ideally, on a guided tour with an expert.
The Villette-Park with its impressive tree population was artistically created in the English style in 1865. If you enjoy cultivated garden architecture, this is a must-see – ideally, on a guided tour with an expert.
“Ranger”. The word probably conjures up images of an Australian gamekeeper battling angry crocodiles and rutting kangaroos in the outback, bouncing along in a four-wheel drive vehicle on dusty gravel tracks. But as soon as you meet Urs Camenzind, such preconceptions go out the window. You won’t find this 57-year-old forest ranger and gardener out in the wilderness with a bush knife. Instead, he'll be walking through Villette-Park with binoculars, working on behalf of the municipality of Cham. The badge on the sleeve of his beige uniform shows the organisation he belongs to: the Swiss Rangers.
Villette-Park is a well-known natural oasis covering around 46,000 square metres. It also has a restaurant of the same name, where many a visitor has lingered over coffee and cake. But only a tour with Ranger Camenzind will truly open your eyes to what an exquisite gem the park really is. It was designed by the famous garden architect Theodor Froebel, who created an English-style garden here in 1865 on behalf of a wealthy Zurich banker. Unlike French-style gardens, this garden does not feature strictly laid-out beds and meticulously trimmed hedges, but instead strives to reflect the natural landscape. Another distinctive feature of the park is its exotic tree species from various places. These were intended to impress. It’s an altogether highly prestigious park.
There are redwoods from China, Japanese maples, oriental plane trees, African cedars, American bald cypresses and the Caucasian wingnut tree, as well as monkey puzzle trees, whose leaves twist around
their branches like screws. The tulip tree, which is adorned with sulphur-yellow to yellow-green, almost palm-sized upright flowers in early summer, was also quite exotic for the time. European and native trees are dotted among the more exotic ones: horse chestnut and holly, weeping willow, beech, birch, poplar, elm, alder, ash, yew and oak.
Do you want to know more? Sabine Windlin went on a tour of Villette Park together with ranger Urs Camenzind for our destination magazine #inlovewithzug. Click the download link below for the whole story.