The Center of Many Things

Geneva is headquarters for the International Red Cross, the European headquarters for the United Nations and scores of other international programs as well as hundreds of NGO's (Non-government organizations.  Some of the NGO's actually have offices here; others simply use Geneva as a mailing address for its prestige.  The United Nations alone has over 7000 meetings a year.  About 30% of the residents of Geneva are not Swiss citizens.  Either they work for these organizations or just like the area and have homes here on or above the lake.  The actual lake does not belong to any one person, so there are no "Private" beaches.  In fact there are not too many people who face the challenge of swimming in water fresh off a melting glacier.  The Rhone River starts just above Geneva and flows through Lac Lamon (Lake Geneva) before turning south.

Farel, Calvin, Beze and Knox on the "Reformation Wall"

One name for Geneva is The Protestant Rome.  Luther was in Germany, but Calvin and Knox were from Switzerland.  The activities of Calvin, whose followers preferred to be called "reformers" rather than "Calvinists,"  led to the Swiss Reformed Church and, I believe, Methodists.  Knox left for England, then Scotland, where he was instrumental in forming the Presbyterian Church.










It was in Geneva that the Cantons in Switzerland, formerly individual states, became the Swiss Federation or the Country of Switzerland.

Murals outside city Hall (Hotel de Ville) show the history of
Geneva and canons used to defend the city in the Middle Ages.

When the ship, The Alabama, an unarmed merchant ship, was attacked during the American Civil War, the owners, builders and governments involved came to Geneva to settle their differences and establish international rule for some aspects of modern warfare such as not attacking unarmed ships (though they may blockade them) and how to deal with prisoners of war.  Have you ever heard of the Geneva Conventions?

The caption lists the men who formed the
International Committee of the Red Cross

It was Henry Dunant, a gentleman from Geneva, who was so appalled by wounded men left on a battlefield to die that he persuaded the opposing force to allow the wounded to be removed for treatment.  When he returned to Geneva, he met with 4 other men, including a legislator, a doctor who had served in the war and a general to discuss the situation.  The Red Cross came out of that meeting.  The Swiss flag is only one of 2 square national flags in the world, and it has a white cross on a red background.  (They say it has nothing to do with religion -- that is the shape of a lake in Switzerland.)  The group chose to reverse the colors, so the Red Cross flag is a red cross on a white field.  Muslims saw it as a Christian symbol, so formed the Red Crescent Society with the same aims, but a red crescent instead of a cross.

The steeple and bell tower of St. Peter Cathedral

St. Peter's Cathedral, built on the ruins of a pagan worship site, was an ornate Roman Catholic church, but during the reformation most of the interior decorations were removed.  Only one small room, the Chamber of the Maccabees, retains the ornate decorations.

St. Peter's Cathedral 

Even the floor of the Chamber of the
Maccabees is ornate.

From Darkness Came Light
(The slogan of Geneva)

We think of a carousal as an entertainment for children, but its original use was quite different.  When tournaments were held to test the quality of knights, many knights were injured or killed in the jousting event.  In order to have a safer event, horses were placed on a revolving platform.  Knights mounted the horses and used their lances to spear rings instead of other knights.  The tourney winner was the one with the most rings on his lance.




Geneva has one other symbol beside the fountain in the lake.  It had the first, and at one time largest,  "flower clock" with a second hand over 6 feet long.  The flowers are changed according to the season.  Many other cities now have similar flower clocks, but Geneva had the first.