The Swiss Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
by Jamie Ross
“It is, indeed, a fearful place. The torrent, swollen
by the melting snow, plunges into a tremendous abyss, from which the spray
rolls up like the smoke from a burning house.”
 I stand atop Reichenbach Falls and watch the raging
waters tumble 120 metres into the black-rock chasm below. I listen to the
booming roar of the water and feel the fresh spay on my face. We were
touring Switzerland, passing by car from Interlaken to Lucerne, when I
had insisted on a little detour near Meiringen to the site of the
spectacular falls, the place where Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had
tried to kill off his fictitious super-sleuth in the story “The Adventure of
the Final Problem.”
The walking path along the cliff-side might now be a
little better maintained otherwise, I imagine, not much has changed from the
scene that Conan Doyle described on May 4th, 1891. It was here that Sherlock
Holmes met his arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty, and, after a fierce fight,
the two had purportedly fallen to their deaths. One would suspect that, had
Holmes been as pugilistically adept as Robert Downey Jr. in the latest
Holmes’ film adaptation, he would have had little problem coping with an
aging villain.
 And perhaps he really didn’t. Faced with a great
public outcry, Conan Doyle was forced to alter his narrative plan and bring
Holmes back from the abyss, back for further adventures on the pages of The
Strand Magazine. He resurrected his nemesis by claiming that Holmes had
managed to grab a tuft of grass during the fall into the “dreadful cauldron”
and so had lived to solve another mystery. A memorial plaque at a viewpoint
reminds visitors of the fictitious incident, and on May 4 every year,
members of the international Sherlock Holmes Society make a pilgrimage to
the falls to commemorate the “death” of their beloved hero.
Even without its literary connection, the beauty and
wildness of the waterfalls would make Reichenbach a worthwhile side-trip.
From a parking lot at the hotel below, a short trek accesses the three
viewing terraces which offer breathtaking views. A railway tram also
transports visitors alongside the raging waters of the Reichenbach, to the
uppermost waterfall. In connection with the construction of the first
electric power plant at the Reichenbach Falls, the 714 metre Reichenbach
train was built. It started operating in 1899 and facilitated the 244 metre
climb to the uppermost waterfall and to the Reichenbach Valley.
 The charming Swiss town of Meiringen is for many
Holmes fans a kind of Mecca. Set at the heart of the Hasliberg hiking
region, the town has long been a favourite mountain-walking resort. Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle stayed here many times, taking up residence at the Park
Hotel Du Savage. This grand 1880's hotel still stands, retaining its
romantic period charm, with an Art-noveau interior and a plaque on the
Victorian porch announcing Conan Doyle as a guest. The author had, in fact,
used the hotel as Holmes’ and Watson’s lodging in his story, calling it the
Englischer Hof.
Near the hotel is Meiringen’s town square, refurbished
in the 1980's and renamed Conan Doyle Place. A statue of Holmes sits
contemplatively on a bench in the small park, and the Sherlock Holmes Museum
can be found in the basement of a quaint English Chapel. Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle’s daughter, Dame Jean Conan Doyle, inaugurated the interesting museum
in 1991, on the 100th anniversary of Holmes and Moriarty’s struggle at the
falls.
 The centrepiece of the Museum is a life-size replica
of the sitting room at 221b Baker Street, put together with scrupulous
accuracy. Many items are strewn around, including a copy of The Times on the
floor, in an attempt to convey the impression that Holmes and Watson had
only moments before gone out. Holmes’s jack-knife protrudes from the
mantelpiece, and his violin, Persian slipper where he kept his tobacco and a
bust of the detective used to decoy his enemies are all arranged nearby.
Another fabulous museum dedicated to Holmes was
established by Sir Arthur's son, Adrian Conan Doyle, in an historic castle
in the charming town of Lucens, about halfway between Lausanne and Lake
Neuchatel in the Swiss region of la Broye. After Adrian's death in 1970, the
museum was moved to a house in Lucens. Among the curiosities, one
finds a small viper preserved in aspic, from the story “The Speckled Band,”
a bust of Conan Doyle, a deerstalker hat owned by Holmes illustrator Sidney
Paget, and several of Paget’s illustrations, including Holmes wrestling with
Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. The museum houses a vast collection of
memorabilia and personal items that once belonged to Sir Arthur and
concentrates as much on the writer as on the fictional sleuth.
It might be fair to ask, other than being the
background for one Holmes story, why is there such a fascination for the
great detective so far from his London home? Well, in a country renowned for
its clockwork efficiency, order and logic, the answer is elementary, my dear
Watson.
If you Go ...
Switzerland Tourism
www.myswitzerland.com.
Swiss Rail accesses Meiringen, and a Swiss Pass allows
unlimited travel on the Swiss Travel System including trains, buses and
boats, and also allows free access to over 400 museums, including the
Sherlock Holmes Museum. www.sbb.ch/en
Reichenbach Falls
info@reichenbachfall.ch
www.reichenbachfall.ch
Park Hotel Du Savage
www.sauvage.ch
Images by Jamie Ross
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