When asked for my hobbies, the reply in most cases is „F & F“ in German: „Funken und Festungen“. The one is amateur radio i.e. Summits on the Air, so no surprise. The other „F“ is recent fortifications from the last century, especially here in Switzerland. Some say that the country makes not only cheese but is also one big cheese, from the Lake Geneva to the Lake of Constance. A nice myth! But the holes in the cheese are never far and can frequently be met on SOTA tours. The base for this hobby around military history arose in military service as I was trained to operate the guns back in the eighties. Being curious and follow traces outdoors has remained after leaving that service. Nowadays, these fortifications are part of the national heritage, and there are museums in some of them, see www.fort.ch (en) . For about twenty years there was much activity to see the sites together with military historians and engineers after the shut-down. This has subided now, so SOTA jumped in and has filled the gap completely. There are other side hobbies, but not to the extent of „F & F“!
73, Markus HB9DIZ