Black Forest Edelweiss Bookmark, Souvenir of Chateau d’Oex, Switzerland, c. 1920

Age:
Circa 1920
Material:
Wood
Dimensions:
9.5cm long
Shipping:
Standard Parcel
Price:
SOLD
A Swiss ‘Black Forest’ souvenir wooden bookmark featuring an edelweiss flower. On the back is stamped Chateau d’Oex, a municipality in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. Château-d‘Oex was the first Swiss community to host injured soldiers during WW1. The British ambassador to Switzerland, Sir Evelyn Grant Duff, met the first train and recorded in his diary that evening:
“It is difficult to write calmly about it for the simple reason that I have never before in my life seen such a welcome accorded to anyone, although for 28 years I have been present at every kind of function in half the capitals of Europe. At Lausanne some 10,000 people, at 5am, were present at the station. Our men were simply astounded. Many of them were crying like children, a few fainted from emotion. As one private said to me: "God bless you, sir, it‘s like dropping right into ‘eaven from ‘ell."
The bookmark is in excellent condition.