We want to portray our canton as innovative and modern

With Argovia being the guest canton at this year’s Zug Fair, it is only right that their exhibition deserves special attention.

It has already been reported how Urs Hoffmann, the deputy head of the Argovian cantonal government, showed he had a sense of humour at the opening ceremony last Saturday by saying what a dilemma it was wondering what on earth to give to wealthy Zug as a present, and going onto mention how his own canton manages with a government of five members, while that of Zug has seven, and this bearing in mind the population of Argovia is around 662,244 compared with Zug’s 123,900.

The special exhibition put on by Argovia can be found in Hall B2, where a huge 17 metre x 3 metre panorama picture of the canton can be seen. Then, information about the canton’s history and economy can be found, too, not to mention the high-tech research which goes on there. Another section shows the towns in the canton which have historic centres, with another providing interesting background information about all the castles there, such as Schloss Lenzburg and Schloss Hallwyl.

As Andrea Portmann, the head of the Argovian Tourist Board, mentioned, she wants the exhibition to show off the innovative and modern sides of the canton and at the same time encourage the people of Zug to cross the cantonal border to see what is on offer there. “For example, the walk along the Freiämter Path, which takes one via Sins and Oberrüti is particularly delightful at this time of the year, with the Lindenberg hill rising to 808 metres,” said Portmann, (the Freiamt being a region of the canton bordering on Zug). Furthermore, a visit to the “Straw Museum” in Wohlen is always interesting; it is here where one can see how straw hats were made.
Not that Argovia and Zug have always been on good terms with each other, with conflict over fishing rights in the River Reuss dating back to the Middle Ages.

Incidentally, the popular Swiss fizzy, non-alcoholic drink, Rivella, which includes milk serum or liquid whey among its contents, comes from Rothrist, and Zweifel Pomy-Chips crisps come from Spreitenbach, both of which can be tried at the exhibition.