Liechtensteinische Landesbank - Annual Report 2008

Liechtenstein

The Walser Sagenweg (The Walser Trail of Myths and Legends) in Triesenberg.

USA

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale.

«Myths and legends can be found everywhere in Liechtenstein. They lie deep in the psyche of the nation. It takes a certain amount of time for a myth or legend to become part and parcel of a place.»

«The education system in the USA is highly diverse and greatly varies according to social background. In those places where the education system works, the academic environment is marvellous.»

Oral history is part of a nation's culture and its educational traditions. Myths and legends form an important part of this. The stories or motifs of a folk tale are usually shaped by the peculiarities of the landscape and the times. That's why there is always some truth in them and why they are always associated with a specific place. We too have very strong connections to our traditional location in Liechtenstein. At the same time we are also successful in new markets. We are your reliable partner, both at home and throughout the world.

Prof. Dr. Rainer Nägele

Born and raised in Triesen / FL Then, the jump across the big pond to teach German literature at Yale University.

1943	Rainer Nägele was born in Triesen.
1965 – 1971	University studies in Innsbruck, Göttingen and Santa Barbara.
1971	Dissertation «Formen der Utopie bei Friedrich Hölderlin» at the University of California in Santa Barbara.
1979 – 2005	Professor of German at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
2006 – present	Professor of German and Comparative Literature at Yale University in New Haven.

Do you remember me?

Prof. Dr. Rainer Nägele is a literary scholar at Yale University. It has been a long journey for him from Triesen to Yale. However, he can still spin yarns that connect him with the country of his memories. «I get goose bumps when I think of the ghost stories told to me as a child. They made a deep impression on me. Back then we simply knew that between morning and evening chimes the region belonged to the OTHERS. Even to this day I can vividly recall some of the legends. For example, that of the ‹Drei Schwestern› or the ‹Tobelhocker›.» When he is visiting Liechtenstein, it is not unusual for someone to come up to him on the street and ask, «Do you remember me?». And then he lapses back into the dialect of his native Liechtenstein. «For a long time I used to think that I couldn't say everything that I wanted to say in dialect. Now I know that you can talk about feelings in dialect just as well.» Rainer Nägele meanwhile crosses borders with the same ease and elegance with which he switches back and forth between English, French, German and his native Liechtenstein dialect.

Hi, I love you!

Rainer Nägele went to the USA in 1968 and has since lived in numerous places. «The great differences in the USA still astonish me. It is an unbelievably diverse and pluralistic society. There is no such thing as THE typical American.» The spectrum comprises everything from the casual and often superficial interjection «I love you» to social fossilization. «For example, there are villages in Iowa populated only by people from Swabia where they all still speak the old Swabian dialect. Apparently, nothing has changed for hundreds of years.» The USA is a country that lives at different speeds, a place of stark contrasts. Despite all of this, or perhaps because of it, Rainer Nägele feels at home in the USA. Moreover, the university offers excellent facilities. In any case, he is the grandmaster of German language and literature for his students at Yale. When you come to think of it, that is quite a remarkable career for someone who started out life as a young boy looking down from Triesenberg out into the world.

Liechtenstein: it's difficult to corroborate stories about the source for or the history behind the «stone of light» («lichten Steins»). Of course, you can still find stones with glistening pieces of fool's gold in them on the gravel banks of the Rhine or shining crystals on the top of the Falknis mountain. Other than that, the myths and legends of the country tell of stones: the stone figures of the Drei Schwestern mountain, three sisters transformed into mountain peaks, or the Tobelhocker, witch-hunters, turned into stone in a ravine.

USA: myths and legends have a more difficult time in the land of opportunity. People are too mobile for myths and legends to take hold. The fledgling democracy came down on the side of science and enlightenment. In those places where the education system works, conditions at universities are much better than in Europe.