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was bestowed on Murten / Morat by readers of Schweizer Illustrierte
and Domenica Ticinoise — the publications representing each of Switzerland's linguistic regions
It was deemed even more beautiful than five other finalists
which are stunning in their own right: Stein am Rhein (SH)
Murten / Morat is the only bilingual village: located in the German-speaking part of canton Fribourg
Murten / Morat lies on the south-eastern shore of the lake of the same name
It is one of only a handful of ‘Zähringer’ cities in Switzerland
founded by the German Duke Berthold V of Zähringen in the 13th century
The 800-year-old community has preserved much of its medieval charm to this day
like the arcades and cobblestone alleys in the Old Town
as well as the round wall enclosing the village
originally designed to keep out invaders and other unwelcome visitors
Heute mal wieder der Sprachgrenze rund um den Murtensee/Lac de Morat unterwegs gewesen :) Vom wunderschönen, (mehrheitlich) deutschsprachigen #Murten (FR) ging es über den Mont Vully (in der gleichnamigen frz.-sprachigen Gemeinde) ins deutschsprachige Ins (BE) :)@Jura3Lacs pic.twitter.com/ito3w23wMd
Murten / Morat hosts a classical music festival in the courtyard of its castle
a spectacular light show is taking place all over the community
with various light images reflected on old buildings throughout the village
“It's the people who make the village come alive.”
Murten / Morat's new title certainly makes a visit there worthwhile — as well as to all the other stunning villages across the country:
READ ALSO: Switzerland's ten most beautiful villages you have to visit
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Switzerland does have a small navy of sorts
Lakes Konstanz and Leman (Geneva) form international frontiers
and their navies consist of a few patrol craft
Switzerland also has a major Rhine commercial fleet
which military patrol craft in time of war
Both the navy and air force are branches of the army (like the infantry and artillery)
Switzerland has its navy sailing on the various lakes like Constance (Bodensee)
Leman (or Geneva but people outside of Geneva dislike this spelling)
Biel/Bienne or Morat (Murten) to name a few
The Swiss "navy" consists of ten patrol boats on two lakes that form international borders (Constance and Leman)
Lake Maggiore and Lake Lugano form international borders with Italy
The shipping company for Lake Marriore is Italian and they seem to fly only the Italian flag
The shipping company for Lake Lugano is located in Switzerland and the square flag is flown there
has produced a digital twin: the largest digital image of a single object ever produced (1,600 Gigapixel)
interactive museum installations will be designed in the context of the 550th anniversary of the Burgundian wars (2026)
The panorama of the battle of Murten celebrates a victory that irrevocably altered Swiss and European history
This event has been continuously commemorated
The panorama represents a late-19th century vision of a Medieval battle instrumental in political discourse
its societal and cultural meaning has changed
The DIAGRAM project intends to offer a critical analysis of the 19th-century image and to offer new approaches for cultural interpretation
1. The Terapixel Panorama — creating the digital twin
Augmenting and annotating — the digital twin
Exhibitions — list of exhibitions (coming soon)
Daniel Jaquet (project manager & military historian)Dr
Paul Bourke (image specialist)Nelissen Decorbouw (conservation and scanning platform engineer)Raphael Chau (PhD student in digital humanities)Tonia Ramogida (researcher in digital humanities)Marinella Sofia Gkinko (science communicator)eM+ software engineers: Samy Mannane
Loïc Serafin and Adriano Viegas Milani alongside numerous other collaborators
essential donors and the custodian of the panorama
The Stiftung für das Panorama der Schlacht bei Murten (1476)
EPFL lab to digitize 1,000m2 ‘Swiss national treasure’
The Digitisation of the Panorama of Murten is about to start
Gobbo, S. (2024, November 6). ‘La bataille de Morat, comme si vous y étiez; «On passe du tumulte de la bataille au son du pinceau»‘
‘Le GIFF expose à Genève la version numérique du fameux panorama de la bataille de Morat‘
The painting depicts the moment Swiss Confederates gained the upper hand against the Duchy of Burgundy during its 1476 invasion
Commissioned by a Swiss society specialized in public entertainment
the panorama was the main media of the end of the 19th c
was a famous painter of German military history
Braun and his team produced this work measuring 10 x 100 m in 1893
before falling in oblivion behind the new media of the cinema
it was restored and put on a brief display for 4 months during Expo.02 (2002) in a monolith built by Jean Nouvel on the Murten lac
it remained rolled up in a Swiss Army deposit
For a full description see The Terapixel Panorama Project
the panorama of the battle of Murten was transported to the EPFL Laboratory for Experimental Museology
The design of the custom-built inspection platform ran parallel to the first inspections and tests (August-December 2022)
The conservation of the 3 rolls was performed parallel to the design and production of the scanning rig (January-June 2023)
The scanning process took place between August and October 2023
after which the panorama was returned to its storage location
The post-processing of the image data and first tests took place in November – January 2024
took advantage of an iXH 150-megapixel camera with a 72mm lens specifically built for high-resolution digitization projects.
capturing 27,000 images within and beyond the RGB (red
The challenges of producing an image of 1,6 terapixel with high color fidelity at a resolution of 1000 dots per inch are both physical and technical
Physical challenges include capturing a flawless 2D picture despite irregularities on the canvas’s surface
The original canvas is also hyperboloid in shape
as it was intended to be installed vertically for display in a rotunda (spherical building/room)
The painting has therefore been carefully ‘spooled’ across a substrate to ensure smooth image capture
quality and high technological aspects of the digital twin are the subject of scientific research and experimentation during the imaging phase
They allow for scientific contributions in the fields of data science
It includes the use of block chain technologies
More information can be found on the publications related to the project
The scanning of the Battle of Murten Panorama canvas gives rise to a range of interpretation projects from ultra-high resolution streaming online
to highly significant situated experiences of the panorama akin to what the original experience would have been like but with the aid of spectacular software initiated interactive audio visual effects
Four special exhibitions are planned in 2025-2026 at the Castle of Grandson
The update for a more detailed schedule of the exhibition is planned in November 2024
Next to the zooming and panning options available at an unprecedented resolution
additional content will be produced to enrich the digital twin
It will guide public access to and understanding of the artwork
These augmentations are superimposed on the original image
Additional datasets will include 3D models of objects
and motion capture of scenes in the painting
situated within a historically informed soundscape based on research into Medieval chronicles
and other archival documents that mention sound in battles
Research into the material culture evidenced in the panorama has identified dozens of related artifacts held in Swiss museums
Synthetic smells diffused on experimental devices will allow the exploration of the fragrant environment of the battlefield
The website will be key to transmit and deepen engagement with both the exhibitions and the 2026 Burgundian wars commemorations
The digital twin will be displayed at the highest resolution supported by web browsers
The website will feature other content from the exhibition system version such as 3D models
and a 2D video of the installation being experienced live by visitors
The project database will be made available through Linked Open Data related to the digital twin (links and metadata to images and text)
It will notably include a selection of primary sources connected to both the history of the panorama and the context of the battle of Murten
This includes all the recently digitized preparatory drawings by Louis Braun and archives related to the production of the panorama
as well as an augmented edition using Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) standards of the collection of primary sources by Ochsenbein (1876)
Enabled by semantic web technologies and IIIF manifest
data can now be curated down to the image region level
this website will launch a novel annotation tool that will support future storytelling for narrative rich paintings
GenevaDates: 1-10 November 2024Venue: GIFFSystem: 5m wide back projected screenContext: group exhibition
Hong Kong (Swiss Consulate in Hong Kong)Dates: 09-11 November 2024 Venue: Hong Kong Baptist University
Visualization Research CentreSystem: 10 metre diameter
360-degree interactive LED system Context: standalone installation
The Museum of the FutureDates:28 August 2025—18 January 2026Venue: Museum für Gestaltung
120-degree interactive projection systemContext: group exhibition
Murten MuseumDates: 12 January 2026—4 April 2026Venue: Murten Museum
MurtenSystem: interactive projection mappingContext: projection installation integrated into the Museum architecture
Bernisches Historisches MuseumDates: February 2026—May 2027Venue: Bernisches Historisches Museum
BernSystem: 360-degree interactive projection systemContext: main installation in exhibition
Castle of GrandsonDates: September—November 2026Venue: Castle of Grandson
360-degree interactive Panoramic NavigatorContext: standalone installation
A project of the EPFL CDH-DHI Laboratory for Experimental Museology
in partnership with the Foundation for the Panorama of the Battle of Murten
The first phase of this project (imaging) was supported by Loterie Romande
the Association of the Friends of the Panorama
The second phase of the project (augmentation) is supported by Swiss National Science Foundation
and Association Suisse pour l’Histoire et les Sciences Militaires
Jaquet, D., & Kenderdine, S. (2020). ‘The Murten Panorama, from 2D to 4D’
International Panorama Council Journal 3: 102–9
Jaquet, D. (2021). ‘Le Panorama de la bataille de Morat version 2.0‘
Chau, TK., Bourke, P., Hibberd, L., Jaquet, D., & Kenderdine, S. (2024). ‘Cultural Big Data: Nineteenth to Twenty-first Century Panoramic Visualization’. Frontiers in Big Data: Data Mining and Management 7. DOI 10.3389/fdata.2024.1309887
Jaquet, D. & Kenderdine, S. (2024). ‘The Digitization of the Murten Panorama: Notes on the Creation of the World’s Largest Image’. Panoramic and Immersive Media Studies Yearbook 1. DOI: 10.1515/9783111335575-022
Stiftung für das Panorama der Schlacht bei Murten (1476)
Deicher, P., Koller, G., & Jaquet, D. (trsl) (2024). ‘Historic Panoramas of the World: The Fascination of a Visual Mass Medium of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries.’ Lucerne: Bourbaki Panorama Museum
Place-Hampi: Inhabiting the panoramic imaginary of Vijayanagara
‘Experimental museology: Immersive visualization and cultural (big) data’
‘Omnidirectional Strategies for Exploring Ancient Cities and Territories’
Digital Cities: Between History and Archaeology
entanglement and immersion in digital cultural heritage’ in S
(2014) ‘A Cultural Heritage Panorama: Trajectories in Embodied Museography’
Digital Heritage and Culture – Strategy and Implementation
Singapore: World Scientic Publishing Co: 197-218
(2012) ‘Cultural Data Sculpting: Omnidirectional Visualization for Cultural Datasets’
Knowledge Visualization Currents: From Text to Art to Culture
(2007) ‘Speaking in Rama: Panoramic Vision in Cultural Heritage Visualisation’
Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage: A Critical Discourse
‘Place-Hampi: Co-Evolutionary Narrative and Augmented Stereographic Panoramas
New Heritage: New Media and Cultural Heritage
‘Prosthetic architectures of the senses: museums and immersion’
dossier: ‘Absorbed in Experience: new perspectives on immersive media’
‘mARChive: Sculpting Museum Victoria’s Collections’
‘Cultural Data Sculpting: The Tripitaka Koreana’
Proceedings of Buddhist Culture and Technology: New Strategies for Study
‘Pure Land: Inhabiting the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang’
Curator: The Museum Journal 56(2): 199-118
(2011) ‘Cultural Data Sculptin g: Omni-Spatial Visualization for Large Scale Heterogeneous Datasets’
‘Omnidirectional 3D Visualization for the Analysis of Large-Scale Textural Corpus: Tripitaka Koreana’
in Proceedings of The Second International Conference on Culture and Computing
Ancient Hampi and Hampi-LIVE: An Entanglement of People- Things’
Embodiment and Performance in PLACE-Hampi’
in Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology
‘An entanglement of people-things: Place-Hampi’
International Journal of Digital Cultural Heritage and E-Tourism (IJDCE): .139-156
in Proceedings of Virtual Systems and Multimedia (VSMM) 13th International Conference
in Revised Selected Papers Series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Magical Realism and Animating Popular Gods: Place- Hampi “Where Intensities Are Felt”’
in Proceedings of the 11th European Information Visualisation Conference
in Proceedings: Virtual Systems and Multimedia (VSMM) 10th International Conference
‘Presence and Sound: Identifying Sonic Means to “Be There”’
17/05/2023 By Le News
Language is a complicated matter in Switzerland
The nation has four official languages and numerous other languages and dialects
On top of this some Swiss have had to cope with shifting language borders
comuni (in Italian) and vischnancas (in Romanche)
44 switched during the last 60 or so years
Ski warning sign in Zermatt Switzerland © Roberto Caucino | Dreamstime.com
six communes have switched from German to French
one from German to French and back to German again
one from Italian to German and back to Italian
one from German to Romanche and back to German
Most of them are near language borders, but a few, like Orselina in the canton of Ticino are not
Between 1930 and 1980 German speakers were the majority in the small commune near Locarno
despite the commune being surrounded by majority Italian-speaking comuni
Shrine of Our Lady of the rock located in Orselina above the city of Locarno © William Giannelli | Dreamstime.com
One commune, La Ferrière
not only changed its language from German to French
when the canton of Jura was created in 1979
The linguistically capricious commune of Wallenried – source_wikipedia_Dietrich Michael Weidmann
One commune in Vaud, Champmartin (now part of Cudrefin), switched from German to French in the 1960s, and another in the canton of Neuchâtel surrounded by francophones, Thielle-Wavre
switched from German to French in the 1980s
On the other side of the Alps in Ticino, the commune of Bosco Gurin, switched from German to Italian around 2000, while the small Italian-speaking commune of Orselina
experimented with German in the 1970s before switching back to Italian
The largest number of linguistic switcheroos have occured in Graubunden. Since 1950, 32 communes have changed their official language from Romanche to German. Another, Bivio
changed from Italian to German around 2000
Switzerland had 26 cantons and 2,287 municipalities in July 20162
with an average population of around 3,640
Supermarkets in Fribourg typically have signs in both French and German
Other multilingual cantons include: Graubunden (Romanche
Fribourg (Freiburg) and Morat (Murten) are shown on the map above
along with Switzerland’s linguistic regions
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter
I hate to read about those people preferring French over German
I think that’s a big mistake because Germany is a much more important country than France
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