Zürichsee Guide – Schiff ahoi!
Zürichsee Guide – Schiff ahoi!
A literary companion for unhurried journeys
Walther J. Fuchs · Watercolours: Charlotte Schmid
‘Auf der Welle blinken / Tausend schwebende Sterne’ – a thousand floating stars sparkling on the waves: Goethe wrote these lines on 15 June 1775, out on Lake Zurich.
Whoever steps aboard today sees the same lake, with the Alps ahead. And along the way the lake tells more than can be seen from the deck. In Uetikon, Ingeborg Bachmann lived in Max Frisch's flat from 1959 – the book imagines a conversation between them at the railing. Richard Wagner began Tristan und Isolde in the Wesendoncks’ ‘Asyl’ in Zurich. Thomas Mann lived in Küsnacht from 1933 to 1938 and in Kilchberg from 1954. And when the lake last froze over, in 1963, camels from the Circus Knie walked across the ice.
In twenty-one stops, Walther J. Fuchs takes you once around the whole lake, each chapter self-contained. With watercolours by Charlotte Schmid, brief practical notes for every stop and a free interactive map of all stops, cultural sites and excursions.
A book for slow journeys. It takes its time; it waits – like the lake.
The book is written in German.
Interactive map · free of charge
The book comes with a freely accessible Google map of all 21 boat stops on Lake Zurich, linked to selected cultural sites and excursions. A preview of the guide's approach – and a tool that stands on its own, even without the book.
Open the interactive mapOrder the print edition
Printing & shipping: Amazon KDP · Hardcover in bookshops (BoD): published 30 November 2026
Digital edition
More about the book [+]
The book sets out to be a literary alternative to the conventional travel guide. Rather than ticking off sights, it uncovers the cultural and historical layers of a landscape that ranks among the culturally densest in the German-speaking world.
How each stop is structured · Every stop tells its own story and can be read on its own. · Slow moment: an invitation to pause, not an instruction. · Brief notes: the essentials for going ashore; current timetables, prices and opening hours via the QR code in the book. · Haiku: one sentence that stays with you.
Interactive map · The book refers to a publicly accessible Google map with all boat stops, cultural sites and excursions. It can be opened via a QR code in the book and works as a tool in its own right – independently of the book and the e-book. digiboo.ch/pages/zhsee
Literary threads · Goethe's lines written on Lake Zurich as the point of departure · Ingeborg Bachmann and Max Frisch in Uetikon · Richard Wagner with the Wesendoncks · Thomas Mann in Küsnacht and Kilchberg · C. G. Jung in Küsnacht · Annemarie Schwarzenbach at Bocken.
Historical layers · the frozen lake of 1963 · the Anabaptists in Zollikon · the steamer disaster off Meilen in 1872 · the Käpfnach mine in Horgen · the monastery islands of Ufenau and Lützelau.
For whom · Lakeside residents who want to read their shores anew · day-trippers and visitors from the German-speaking world looking beyond the timetable · readers with an interest in literature and history and a taste for slow travel as a deliberate slowing down.
Features · Watercolours by Charlotte Schmid and historical illustrations · 190 pages · paperback, 13.97 × 21.59 cm · 2nd, fully revised edition.
About the illustrator · Charlotte Schmid renders historical figures, ships, buildings and shorelines in atmospheric watercolours. Her pictures give the book its visual line.
About the author · Walther J. Fuchs, historian and publisher, lives in Küsnacht on Lake Zurich. As editor of the Küsnachter Jahrheft and president of the Verein Ortsgeschichte Küsnacht, he has been researching the history of the lake and its communities for decades.
Author · Walther J. Fuchs
Watercolours · Charlotte Schmid
Publisher · Digiboo GmbH, Küsnacht ZH
Edition · 2nd, fully revised edition
Extent · 190 pages, colour watercolours
Format · Paperback, 13.97 × 21.59 cm
Language · German
ISBN · Paperback 978-3-03906-102-0 · E-book 978-3-03906-103-7 · Hardcover 978-3-03906-104-4
DOI · 10.68454/digiboo.8295
Interactive map · digiboo.ch/pages/zhsee (freely accessible)
Price · CHF 24.90 · EUR 24.90 (D) · EUR 25.60 (A)
All prices include statutory VAT, plus shipping. Delivery times for print editions: Switzerland 3–5 working days, Germany and Austria 5–8 working days, rest of Europe 7–14 working days. The e-book is sold and downloaded via Amazon Kindle and the tolino retailers Orell Füssli and Thalia. Fixed retail price in Germany and Austria under resale price maintenance law. In Switzerland the stated price is a recommended retail price. Errors, changes in price and availability excepted. Illustrations may differ.
