"Anastasias Geheimnis" (Anastasia's secret), illustrations for the story about Anastasia von Signau (by Verena Zuercher, Landverlag)

The cover of the book project "Anastasias Geheimnis. Eine mittelalterliche Raetselgeschichte", by the author Verena Zuercher, published by Landverlag. A short tale about the young Lady from Signau which leads schoolchildren hikers to the historical places of her story. Lots of black and white ink illustrations. 

On the "variant" cover, Anastasia in front of Burgdorf Castle

One of the color covers among the many black and white ink line drawings...

 One of the line drawings: a medieval gold digger along the river Emme (did you know that already for the Celts and then throughout the Middle Ages the river Emme was very coveted by gold diggers?)

Landverlag.ch

Historic Switzerland, a small illustrated excursion between Murten and Bern

The beautiful main street of Murten / Morat, with Berntor

View of the Mont Vully from Murten 

The walls of Murten, beautifully preserved

And now a little bit of Berne, which is always a joy for a historical illustrator: here is a selection of some of the splendid fountains in the city, decorated with polychrome statues by the Renaissance sculptor Hans Gieng (years around 1540)

And here is an example of the armours of the 30s and 40s of the 16th century, inspired precisely by the Bern fountains: Hans Franz Naegeli wears a specimen while he conquers the Vaud

Swiss Standard-bearer, Battle of Dornach, 1499 (Swabian War - Schwabenkrieg)

 The Swabian War (Schwaben- oder Schweizerkrieg) broke out due to the ancient contrasts between the Habsburgs ant the Swiss Cantons, and in this case was the territorial controversy between the Grisons and the Habsburg Duke of Tyrol (the Emperor Maximilian) to turn on again the fuse.

The conflict expanded from the Rhine Valley to the Lake Constance; saw small-scale clashes but bloody looting. Imperial troops were finally defeated at Dornach on July 22, 1499.

The battle saw the complete triumph of the Swiss Cantons (Old Swiss Confederacy) on the imperial Swabian League and ended the Swabian War.

Among the Swiss fighters there were 5000 from Bern, 400 from Zurich, 600 from Lucerne, plus contingents from Uri, Zug and Unterwalden. The arrival of the Lucerne and Zug soldiers was decisive for the victory over Maximilan's army  (16,000 men).

The battle was a key step in the history of the Swiss Confederation.

In the figure is depicted a Standard-bearer from the mighty city of Bern, with the typical feather turban and the transition clothes between the fashion of the 15th century and the much more extravagant "slasing" fashion of the 16th century.