Minerale der Molybdänitlagerstätte am Alpjuhorn im Baltschiedertal (VS)

Im Zuge einer Masterarbeit an der Universität Bern und am Naturhistorischen Museum der Burger- gemeinde Bern wurde das Molybdänitvorkommen am Alpjuhorn im Baltschiedertal untersucht. Neben Molybdänit wurden auch Scheelit, Ilmenit, Galenit, Ferberit und die Sekundärmineralien Ferrimolybdit und Powellit gefunden. Speziell am Galenit des Alpjuhorns ist, dass er eine oktaedrische Spaltbar- keit aufweist. Das Auftreten von Ferberit ist insofern erwähnenswert, da aus der Schweiz nur wenige Funde von Mineralien der Wolframit-Reihe (Ferberit- Hübnerit) bekannt sind.

Conflicting Cantonalisms: Disputed Sub-national Territorial Identities in Switzerland

The importance of constituent units for democratic federations, in general, and of the Swiss cantons for the Swiss Confederation, in particular, is beyond doubt. What is less clear, however, is how to solve conflicting views on the number and type of such units. The Swiss case offers two highly topical examples in this regard: the merger of the two ‘half-cantons’ Basel-City and Basel-Country, on the one hand, and the creation of a new canton encompassing canton Jura and the French-speaking area of canton Berne, on the other. In comparing different sub-national political identities at play in these two cases, the strength of ‘cantonalism’—understood as attachment to and identification with a canton—in Switzerland in the 21st century is shown. Second, different manifestations of cantonalism are compared: centre-periphery in Basel, linguistic vs. religious in Jura. Finally, the similar direct-democratic pathways chosen to solve both conflicting understandings of cantonalism testify to the Swiss commitment to peaceful, negotiated and popularly sanctioned settlements.