WHAT GIACOMO CASANOVA SAW IN SWITZERLAND, AND WHAT HE OVERLOOKED

Giacomo Casanova, Portrait von seinem Bruder Francesco Casanova (1727-1803), um 1750–1755

Casanova, the well-traveled

The basis for Giacomo Casanova's (1725-1798) fame is well known. All the many things he himself described in such detail have, over the centuries, been thoroughly reconstructed, analyzed, and examined for their actual veracity by others.

But here, another, little-noticed and rarely discussed aspect of this Italian eccentric is of interest: he is also one of the great travelers in world history. Casanova was at home everywhere in his native Italy, from the northernmost regions to the southernmost reaches of distant Sicily. He was equally well-known in France, Spain, and Portugal; he also traveled extensively in Germany and the Scandinavian countries, and he journeyed as far as St. Petersburg and on to Moscow. And, as one might expect, Casanova also spent time in Switzerland. He traversed Helvetia both when traveling from Germany and when returning south.

Anyone expecting Casanova to join the ranks of the great, insightful wandering figures of world history, such as the Englishmen Fynes Moryson (1566-1630) and Thomas Coryat (1577-1617), the German Johann Gottfried Seume (1763-1810) and the incomparable travel writer Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), or the lesser-known but inquisitive Sudeten German wanderer Wenzel Abert (1842-1917), will be disappointed. In Casanova's " History of My Life," described in twelve volumes, it is primarily volume six that recounts his experiences in Switzerland; a brief stay in Lugano follows at the end of the eleventh volume.

Photo by HMS

Schaffhausen, unexplored

Arriving from Stuttgart, Casanova entered Switzerland around 1760. His first stop was Schaffhausen . The fleeting nature of his travels is already evident here. The city is a gem. It captivates visitors with its oriel windows, of which there are said to be 171, the most in all of Switzerland, with the frescoes on the 15th-century Haus zum Ritter (House of the Knight), and with many other sights worth seeing. The winding, narrow streets of Schaffhausen, the numerous hidden squares that invite exploration, the fountains, and the imposing, stately Renaissance houses still attract many tourists today. Casanova, however, showed no interest whatsoever in even looking around, let alone getting to know the city. Even the breathtaking Rhine Falls, which impressed Goethe and many other great minds, escaped him. At least, he said nothing about them.

Zurich, Einsiedeln and back

Casanova arrived in Schaffhausen via the German postal service, and since there is no postal service in Switzerland, he continued his journey to Zurich by hired carriage. There, he took up residence at the "Zum Schwert" inn. Zurich is the richest city in Switzerland, he laconically notes, but he had "not previously had the slightest intention of going to Zurich." And indeed, this is the impression one gets from reading his account of the city. For him, it was nothing more than a chance stopover. Nothing noteworthy happened after his arrival; Zurich held no interest for Casanova. The "Zum Schwert" hotel, also known as the "Haus zum Schwert" in Zurich's old town, was the place to stay. The inn had existed since the thirteenth century and was a meeting place for the international elite of the first rank in politics, culture, and science. Before, during, and after Casanova's stay, the "Sword" hosted, for example, the Russian Tsar, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Mozart (both father and son), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and numerous other notable figures. But Casanova, even here, showed no vigilance, no interest. Rather, he was entirely preoccupied with himself. Instead, after dinner in the "Sword's" dining room, he mused about his life and his fortune. And the very next morning, he set off again, leaving "without breakfast, without knowing where he was going," and departing the city once more. After a six-hour walk, he spotted a church, a monastery. He had reached Einsiedeln. His stated travel time, however, is not credible, all the more so since he claims to have walked "at a slow pace"; it takes much longer on foot. And in Einsiedeln, he recounts an episode that is all too typical of him, one that is amusing, and even somewhat laughable.

After the abbot of the Benedictine monastery showed him the church, Casanova experienced what amounted to an epiphany. He was seized by an incomprehensible whim—namely, to become a monk—and immediately made a general confession of all his sins to the abbot, recounting a great many scandalous stories for three hours straight. He then planned to undertake a ten-year novitiate. However, it soon became clear that this was merely an incomprehensible whim. Casanova, back in Zurich, attended an orchestral concert and spotted three or four pretty ladies who caught my eye and who often looked back at me. Thus, his "new conversion" was already over. He courted one of the women, pulled down her stockings, and fondled her "wonderfully shaped calves." They were women from Solothurn, and he decided to follow them to their hometown. He describes his failed conversion as follows: A merciful angel came all the way from Solothurn to save him from the temptation of entering a monastery. It was all "castles in the air".

And let's be clear: Just as with Schaffhausen, Casanova has hardly anything of substance to tell us about his stay in Zurich.

Solothurn, the French

Then came the departure for Solothurn. Passing through Baden, he casually remarked that "the cantons meet there for the Grand Council of States." This was the so-called Federal Diet, or Tagsatzung, which existed until the founding of the modern Swiss Confederation in 1848. It is noticeable that Casanova becomes more engaged and observant the longer he travels in Switzerland. He only visited Solothurn because he had met a woman from that city in Zurich whom he adored—a "wonderful Amazon created by heaven"—and whom he then sought to track down. In Solothurn, he reiterated that this was "far more sensible than becoming a monk in Einsiedeln." He even played a role in the play "The Scottish Woman" in Solothurn and attended balls. Casanova mentioned the Ambassador's Court and knew that it was then the palace of the French ambassador to Switzerland, which is why French was highly valued in Solothurn. However, he left no further impressions of Switzerland's most baroque city.

His assessment before leaving Solothurn is mixed – “a city where, compared to the real losses suffered, I had only achieved minor victories.” It is fitting, then, that he likely contracted a sexually transmitted disease at the end of his stay in Solothurn. This would not be the first or last time, and according to his autobiography, he miraculously and repeatedly managed to cure himself through self-medication. Nevertheless, his observations and experiences in the ambassadorial city are somewhat more substantial than those of his previous visits.

In Bern, among Bernese citizens and patricians

This applies to an even greater extent to Bern, where Casanova subsequently spent three weeks. The inn "Zum Falken" (At the Falcon), where he stayed, may well be the restaurant of the same name that still exists today in the part of the old town he indicated. This is supported by the fact that Casanova reached a small rise a few meters away and then looked down at a "small river." This is the Aare, which flows picturesquely around Bern, with the city nestled within its course. The Aare is by no means small today; rather, it is wide and can often be fast-flowing, even dangerous. It is possible that the river was straightened after Casanova's time. Casanova would then have looked down at the Aare from the Münsterplattform (Cathedral Platform), a truly impressive sight even today. Then, as now, a staircase leads down to the river, to what is now the Marzili Aare swimming pool; Casanova aptly mentions "about a hundred steps." At the time of his visit, however, the baths of Bern's elite were located there, and brothels were also present. Casanova speaks of "servant girls," of a "swarm of coarse beauties" who attended to him. We will pass over Casanova's erotic experiences and somewhat excessive obscene remarks on the matter. In any case, he had, tellingly, the instinct in Bern to find, immediately upon his arrival, what he sought everywhere: new erotic experiences. And his amorous adventures in what is now the Swiss capital were rich, even if, as he laments, the Bernese women struck him as coarse and some, even beautiful ones, could not have seduced him. It may also have been due to the notoriously somewhat ponderous Bernese way of speaking, as he insinuates.

Casanova frequented Bern's high society, members of the patrician von Muralt family, with whom he entertained himself on several occasions. He observed that Bernese ladies dressed well, behaved elegantly, and spoke fluent French. They enjoyed great freedom, but were required by their husbands to be home by nine o'clock in the evening. During his travels through Switzerland, Casanova encountered a Swiss city for the first time. He showed interest in the Bernese military drills demonstrated by Monsieur de Muralt; he inquired about the meaning of the bear in the Bernese coat of arms, learned about the power of the Canton of Bern, and became acquainted with the various systems of government in the other cantons.

After receiving letters of recommendation in Bern for visits with high-ranking individuals in Lausanne, he decided to continue his journey to Romandie, the western part of Switzerland. Nowhere else on his travels through Switzerland have we encountered Casanova with such genuine interest as in Bern. His conclusion regarding his stay in Bern was therefore entirely positive:

"I left Bern with a very natural sadness. I had been happy in this city and even now I never think of it without pleasure."

At Dr. Herrenschwand's manor and later Greng Castle near Murten

Casanova interrupted his journey to western Switzerland after only about thirty kilometers in Greng near Murten, where he made an illustrious stop at the office of the highly esteemed physician Johann Friedrich von Herrenschwand. Herrenschwand was an internationally renowned and sought-after medical luminary of the time; he was the personal physician of several European princes, such as those of Saxe-Gotha, Hesse-Homburg, and the Polish king, served as a military doctor in Belgium, and was called to Bern in the last phase of his life. Herrenschwand's treatise on the most important and common internal and external diseases was evidently a bestseller; bibliographical research reveals that his medical handbook appeared in several editions, can still be borrowed from the Bern University Library today, and is even available online. It was the aristocrat Madame d'Urfé who commissioned Casanova to request written advice from Dr. Herrenschwand regarding a tapeworm, reportedly paying him two louis. Already somewhat aged, Madame d'Urfé became one of Casanova's countless mistresses; she can also be admired in Fellini's film adaptation of Casanova.

Dr. Herrenschwand invited Casanova to his home for dinner. What Casanova found, however, was not yet the present-day castle grounds, but a distinguished manor house that the wealthy doctor had acquired. In the 1780s, it passed into the possession of an envoy of the French king, who had it converted into a castle with a large garden.

No views of Dr. Herrenschwand's elegant estate can be found, and Casanova, once again, makes no further leading observations on the matter. However, a delightful watercolor of the castle by Mathias Gabriel Lori from 1804 is available to admire.

The painter chose the south side of the house, overlooking the courtyard; in the center of the front garden stands an oval fountain with overflowing water, which is collected in a basin, possibly artificially created in reference to English landscape architecture or Rousseau's affinity for nature, who, fleeing the authorities, had found refuge nearby on St. Peter's Island in Lake Biel. Casanova would also comment on Rousseau at the end of his Swiss journey. The two tiny female figures on the steps, the closed blinds, and the two storks all suggest an idyllic summer day. Through the different perspectives, the painter Lori succeeds in capturing the interplay between nature and culture and a moment of intimate idyll at this place visited by Casanova.

Greng Castle and its associated farm with stables were owned for over forty years in the last century by Anna Nussbaum, a Bernese woman also known as a pioneer of vegetarian cuisine based on the principles of Dr. Bircher-Benner in the city of Bern. The richly detailed image is a family heirloom and was provided by Mrs. Suzanne C. Cottier, a granddaughter of the former owner of Greng Castle, along with her expert commentary.

In Roche with Albrecht von Haller, in Geneva with Voltaire

A highlight of Casanova's journey through Switzerland was his three-day visit to Albrecht von Haller in Roche, in the canton of Vaud, to whom he had recommended himself with a favorable letter from the Bernese aristocrat de Muralt. At that time, Haller was serving as director of the Bernese saltworks in Roche. Casanova was deeply impressed by Haller, the "famous man," describing him as tall, strong, and handsome. He praised Haller as a polymath: "It would be easier to say which qualities he lacked than which he did possess." He was neither arrogant nor complacent, and had no other faults. Casanova recognized Haller as a "scholar of the first rank," who, however, was able to adapt to the intellectual understanding of everyone. Casanova and Haller engaged in in-depth literary conversations, for example about Rousseau and Petrarch, and they revealed a mutual sympathy. Interestingly, Haller rejected Rousseau, as Casanova reports; He found his "Heloise" to be mendacious, and his eloquence too full of antitheses and paradoxes. True, honest scholarship, he believed, was to be found in Petrarch. Casanova's own view on this, he leaves unsaid.

Casanova's subsequent multi-day stay in Lausanne, unlike his previous one in Roche, proved less productive. He barely paid any attention to the city, instead indulging in lengthy theoretical "Remarks on the Beauty" of women.

Casanova concluded his Swiss stay in Geneva, where he spent three days visiting Voltaire. Rich conversations between the two characterized this visit, and Casanova immediately recorded them in writing. Voltaire revered Ariosto above all else and recited from his work; he considered himself superior even to Homer, Dante, and Petrarch. He also presented Casanova with his as-yet-unpublished "Tancrède." Discussions about various forms of government, in Venice and elsewhere, rounded out the discourse. Casanova repeatedly praised Voltaire as "the great man" and emphasized "the full richness of his brilliant and fertile mind." However, he also noted Voltaire's eccentricities; for example, he constantly alternated between wigs and caps to protect himself from catching a cold.

Geneva, too, barely reveals itself as a city in Casanova's account. He focused entirely on his exchange with Voltaire there. And with his onward journey to the French town of Aix-en-Savoie, today's Aix-les-Bains, "an ugly nest," Casanova's journey through Switzerland comes to an end.

At the end of the eleventh, penultimate volume of his history of my life, there is a reunion in Switzerland. Casanova is briefly in Lugano, where he intends to commission a printing. His impressions of Lugano: the food is good, the company is good, the entertainment is light, and he was given the best room in the best inn. So little, so good.

And what did we learn from Casanova's journey through Switzerland?

In Casanova's autobiography, we find surprisingly few in-depth cultural, historical, or social observations about Switzerland at that time. Instead, he recounts encounters with intellectual giants of his era, and, as everywhere he traveled, his dalliances and affairs take precedence over everything else. The most striking example of this is his extended stay in Solothurn. Here, as in so many other places, he describes his amorous adventures at length. Unfortunately, however, it reads as repetitive, and thus somewhat staid and dull. And he has almost nothing to say about the city itself. Casanova, the Chevalier de Seingalt, clearly prefers to portray himself.

And what did Casanova think of the Swiss?

Their daily lives were always well-organized and structured, and they were committed to honesty and integrity. However, he repeatedly emphasized that caution was advised given the shrewdness of Swiss restaurant owners. The language of the Swiss Germans remained foreign to him; he described it as coarse. This is not surprising, as Swiss German, depending on the region, for example in the remote valleys of Valais, is difficult for speakers of standard German to understand. Casanova, however, classifies Swiss German as a remarkably good variant of German and draws a fitting comparison. In Einsiedeln, he understands "very little German" and believes that "the Swiss dialect (...) probably occupies a position in the German language similar to that of the Genoese dialect in Italian." He is certainly not wrong about this.

Output:

Giacomo Casanova, History of My Life. 12 volumes (Munich 1985).

The beautiful, carefully edited edition was a licensed edition from Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag, Leipzig and Weimar, GDR, printed in the historic Anderson Nexö printing house in Leipzig, which unfortunately ceased to exist in 2015.

Besides this, there are several other editions, but these are not recommended because the text is corrupted or incomplete.

HM Merlin 21.7.2025