Switzerland (German "Swiss Confederation", French "Confédération suisse", Italian "Confederazione Svizzera", Romansh "Confederaziun svizra") with the capital Bern in Central Europe covers 41,285 km². A special feature of the distinctly federalist-oriented federal state is the four mentioned official languages. Switzerland borders Germany to the north, Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, Italy to the south, and France to the west. It is divided into 26 partially sovereign cantons. 58% of the area is mountainous, with 3,350 peaks over 2,000 m and 48 peaks over 4,000 m high.
\r\n\r\nThe Romans planted vine in the area of Baselland and Windisch-Aargau around the turn of the era and established viticulture. In the 6th century, monks from Burgundy founded the Abbey of St. Maurice near Aigle in the canton of Vaud and cultivated vineyards. By the mid-8th century, vineyards are documented in the Chur Rhein and at Lake Constance. Viticulture was cultivated in the Middle Ages by the Cistercians. They founded the Abbey Hautcrêt Palézieux near Les Tavernes and established the first Terrace vineyard on Geneva in the canton of Vaud in 1142.
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Sigi Hiss
freier Autor und Weinberater (Fine, Vinum u.a.), Bad Krozingen