{"id":8803,"date":"2017-11-09T14:30:41","date_gmt":"2017-11-09T14:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=8803"},"modified":"2017-11-20T22:00:08","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T22:00:08","slug":"swiss-national-sports-steinstossen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/swiss-national-sports-steinstossen\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss National Sports: Steinsto\u00dfen"},"content":{"rendered":"

All countries have some sport that has some tradition, or that is extremely popular. The United States, for example, has American football, baseball and basketball. Brazil and Germany have football\/soccer, the British have rugby and cricket, the Canadians ice hockey… But what about the Swiss? There are actually three national sports. And I have never heard of any of them and I am from the adjacent Germany! So, let’s explore what they do down there! Today, we look at\u00a0Steinsto\u00dfen<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Other posts in the series:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Schwingen<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

2. Hornussen<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Throwing rocks<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Steinsto\u00dfen starts at a young age! (Image by Michael Beat at Flickr.com under license CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

Unlike\u00a0Hornussen<\/em>,\u00a0Steinsto\u00dfen\u00a0<\/em>has a pretty simple setup. All you need is a stone. And you throw it as far as possible. The person that throws it the farthest wins. That’s it.<\/p>\n

Mittelalterlich<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

Steinsto\u00dfen\u00a0<\/em>itself is one of the oldest sports of the\u00a0Menschheit\u00a0<\/em>(humanity). Stones were used as a weapon back in those days, and accuracy and range were very important. At some point, that turned into a recreational activity.<\/p>\n

The sport\u00a0in its current form originated in medieval Switzerland.\u00a0Hirten\u00a0<\/em>(shepherds) in the mountains played it as\u00a0Kraftsport\u00a0<\/em>(weight training) as early as the 13th century. All you need for the sport is a stone, and a big one at that. They would use stones that were washed down from the Alps by glaciers. It later became a sport at tournaments, which is how it spread. From Switzerland, it managed to reach Germany, too. So maybe I should have at least known about the sport…<\/p>\n

Unspunnenstein<\/em><\/h2>\n