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115-484: Egolzwil is first mentioned around 1160 as Eigoltiswile . During World War II, Allied soldiers who were caught after their escape from the Swiss internment camps were detained in the prison camp Wauwilermoos . Egolzwil has an area, as of 2006, of 4.2 km (1.6 sq mi). Of this area, 61.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 24% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 12.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and

230-539: A 2 t 3 k v ρ 1 3 ( c 4 + c 1 e − a 1 t + c 2 e − a 2 t ) 2 3 {\displaystyle \Delta L(t)=-{\frac {c_{1}e^{-a_{1}t}+c_{2}e^{-a_{2}t}}{3k_{v}\rho ^{\frac {1}{3}}\left(c_{4}+c_{1}e^{-a_{1}t}+c_{2}e^{-a_{2}t}\right)^{\frac {2}{3}}}}} where c 1 , c 2 , and c 4 are some coefficients,

345-535: A 1 and a 2 are positive constants. The formula is useful for correct approximation of samples data before data normalization procedure. The typical forms of the function Δ L ( t ) of annual growth of wood ring are shown in the figures. Dendrochronology allows specimens of once-living material to be accurately dated to a specific year. Dates are often represented as estimated calendar years B.P. , for before present, where "present" refers to 1 January 1950. Timber core samples are sampled and used to measure

460-436: A Fachhochschule ). As of 2000 there are 442 households, of which 119 households (or about 26.9%) contain only a single individual. 78 or about 17.6% are large households, with at least five members. As of 2000 there were 253 inhabited buildings in the municipality, of which 203 were built only as housing, and 50 were mixed use buildings. There were 145 single family homes, 35 double family homes, and 23 multi-family homes in

575-549: A German professor of forest pathology, wrote a series of papers on the anatomy and ecology of tree rings. In 1892, the Russian physicist Fedor Nikiforovich Shvedov  [ ro ; ru ; uk ] (1841–1905) wrote that he had used patterns found in tree rings to predict droughts in 1882 and 1891. During the first half of the twentieth century, the astronomer A. E. Douglass founded the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at

690-582: A German refugee, reached Switzerland in November 1943. He and other internees in camp Lindenhof-Witzwil had refused to work. He was "punished with twenty days sharp arrest and transfer to the prison camp Wauwilermoos for three months" on the grounds that the detainees had wanted to force an investigation of the camp's "undemocratic and inhumane conditions". On 30   April 1944 Gamperl asked the Swiss Commissariat for Internment by letter to "review

805-437: A Swiss captain asked why they had travelled so far from their camp at Adelboden, and in response, "one of the airmen defiantly informed the juror that 'we were chasing butterflies'". According to Ellington, the response to this lack of candour was: "You have served thirty days at the detention camp and you will now return there and serve forty five more!" Ellington was returned to Wauwilermoos until 1   December. The verdict of

920-538: A bad reputation. The camp was guarded day and night by soldiers with dogs. In all 47 men formed the guard as of 13   February 1945. The camp was additionally secured by several rows of barbed wire. Within the camp sector "Santenberg" was considered a military prison, sector "Egolzwil" housed alcoholics, while the department for "difficult elements" and for repeat offenders was in the sector "Wauwilermoos". In Wauwilermoos prison camp there were both military internees and male civilian internees who had been convicted under

1035-575: A barrack. We told them at the same time, that they only would get food when they were working. During 14 days we left these 115 men without any food. On the 14th day, they told us to die. Our answer was: Since man can live 24 days without food and drink, we'll order the doctor to day 23. Some hours later, they demanded to eat. We said: There are 57 shovels and 58 pickaxes. If you'll have worked for an hour, you'll get food. An hour later, after 60 minutes of work, 114 men were eating. The 115th [man] endured 17 days. Then he ate. A US military memo of 1944 mentioned

1150-619: A chronic gastrointestinal disease he was "cramped and incapacitated". He asked, supported by further justifications and medical certificates, to be transferred to a nursing home. His letters were never answered; similarly unanswered were three letters sent in August and September 1944 by Josef Dudkowiak, an officer of the German Air Force. Dudkowiak had deserted after four and a half years, after he had denounced his superior officer for corruption. Dudkowiak also said that he had been sent to

1265-660: A civilian employee of the Swiss Federal Commissioner of Internment and Hospitalization (FCIH) There he translated artillery manuals, which led to his second commission in the Swiss Army as an orderly officer. This ill-advised appointment was almost certainly due to the national state of emergency and manpower shortage in the Swiss Army, although this does not explain the decision to place Béguin in charge of soldiers of other nationalities. Dendrochronological Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating )

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1380-497: A decree of the Swiss Federal Council in 1941, military prisoners would be confined according to whether their offences qualified them for "custodia honesta," or honourable confinement. Special military-run prisons would offer confinement for "certain offenses of purely military character" since honourable crimes such as "escape and escape attempts... [were] usually not the crimes of common criminals". Regardless of

1495-401: A gradual replacement of wooden panels by canvas as the support for paintings, which means the technique is less often applicable to later paintings. In addition, many panel paintings were transferred onto canvas or other supports during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The dating of buildings with wooden structures and components is also done by dendrochronology; dendroarchaeology is

1610-844: A gunner on a B-17 bomber based in England, was shot at by German anti-aircraft fire in April 1944. The aeroplane was shot at again by Swiss fighters and anti-aircraft batteries after crossing the Swiss border and then landed at Dübendorf airfield . Initially interned in Adelboden, Ellington remained there until September when the American forces were approaching the France–Switzerland border. On 17 September 1944 Ellington slipped out by using his passable German to purchase train tickets for himself and three other internees. Dressed in civilian clothes,

1725-809: A half years in prison. Captain André Béguin was a member of the National Union . He had previously lived in Munich, Germany. "He was known to wear the Nazi uniform and to sign his correspondence with 'Heil Hitler ' ". He was investigated by the Swiss counter-intelligence service for his pro-Nazi political views. Nevertheless, he was retained in command at Wauwilermoos. While in command Béguin "publicly berated Americans, sentenced them to solitary confinement, and denied them Red Cross parcels and mail". Despite his tarnished record, in 1940 Béguin obtained work as

1840-482: A minimum sentence and even permitted disciplinary punishment in "mild cases". "This subjectivity gave military tribunals wide latitude to treat escape attempts as minor infractions, or instead to classify them as criminal felonies". Once a tribunal convened, the burden of proof was normally substantiated by escape reports from the internment camp commanders, arrest reports from police, and interrogations carried out by an official investigator. This preliminary investigation

1955-512: A much greater number have been analysed. A portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots in the National Portrait Gallery, London was believed to be an eighteenth-century copy. However, dendrochronology revealed that the wood dated from the second half of the sixteenth century. It is now regarded as an original sixteenth-century painting by an unknown artist. On the other hand, dendrochronology was applied to four paintings depicting

2070-503: A reference for subsequent European naturalists. In the U.S., Alexander Catlin Twining (1801–1884) suggested in 1833 that patterns among tree rings could be used to synchronize the dendrochronology of various trees and thereby to reconstruct past climates across entire regions. The English polymath Charles Babbage proposed using dendrochronology to date the remains of trees in peat bogs or even in geological strata (1835, 1838). During

2185-480: A relative internal chronology, they cannot be dendro-matched with the main Holocene absolute chronology. However, 14C analyses performed at high resolution on overlapped absolute and floating tree-rings series enable one to link them almost absolutely and hence to extend the calibration on annual tree rings until ≈13 900 cal yr BP." Herbchronology is the analysis of annual growth rings (or simply annual rings) in

2300-597: A section against another chronology (tree-ring history) whose dates are known. A fully anchored and cross-matched chronology for oak and pine in central Europe extends back 12,460 years, and an oak chronology goes back 7,429 years in Ireland and 6,939 years in England . Comparison of radiocarbon and dendrochronological ages supports the consistency of these two independent dendrochronological sequences. Another fully anchored chronology that extends back 8,500 years exists for

2415-424: A small part of the radius of the trunk. Consequently, dating studies usually result in a terminus post quem (earliest possible) date, and a tentative date for the arrival of a seasoned raw panel using assumptions as to these factors. As a result of establishing numerous sequences, it was possible to date 85–90% of the 250 paintings from the fourteenth to seventeenth century analysed between 1971 and 1982; by now

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2530-541: A translator, were present at the tribunals. The authority to try military internees under the Military Penal Code (MPC) meant that "the intent to apply internal Swiss law to internees predated World War II". Internees on trial for escaping normally faced charges of "disregard of regulations", an MPC article that allowed punishment of up to six months of imprisonment in times of war. However, the MPC did not specify

2645-417: A wide ring, while a drought year may result in a very narrow one. Direct reading of tree ring chronologies is a complex science, for several reasons. First, contrary to the single-ring-per-year paradigm, alternating poor and favorable conditions, such as mid-summer droughts, can result in several rings forming in a given year. In addition, particular tree species may present "missing rings", and this influences

2760-595: A window and over wire fences and walked for miles". A US Legation officer then drove them to Genève at the border to France, and on 15   November they reached the Allied lines. Most of the Wauwilermoos prisoners had never shared their stories until Mears's grandson contacted them. Survivors reported filthy living quarters, skin rashes and boils, all reported that they were underfed. Some reported being held in solitary for trying to escape. Some went in weighing in

2875-454: Is a scandal, rushed with dogs") the Swiss newspaper Berner Tagwacht reported on 7   January 1944 the fate of the Soviet internee Dobrolyubov in late November 1943. After a failed escape from Wauwilermoos, Dobrolyubov was condemned to the punishment cell. Because he was sick, Dobrolyubov asked to be sent to the camp's sickroom, but this was denied by Béguin. When Dobrolyubov argued, a dog

2990-636: Is a term used to designate a layer of deformed, collapsed tracheids and traumatic parenchyma cells in tree ring analysis. They are formed when air temperature falls below freezing during a period of cambial activity. They can be used in dendrochronology to indicate years that are colder than usual. Dates from dendrochronology can be used as a calibration and check of radiocarbon dating . This can be done by checking radiocarbon dates against long master sequences, with Californian bristle-cone pines in Arizona being used to develop this method of calibration as

3105-496: Is also used as a check in radiocarbon dating to calibrate radiocarbon ages . New growth in trees occurs in a layer of cells near the bark. A tree's growth rate changes in a predictable pattern throughout the year in response to seasonal climate changes, resulting in visible growth rings. Each ring marks a complete cycle of seasons , or one year, in the tree's life. As of 2023, securely dated tree-ring data for Germany and Ireland are available going back 13,910 years. A new method

3220-427: Is based on measuring variations in oxygen isotopes in each ring, and this 'isotope dendrochronology' can yield results on samples which are not suitable for traditional dendrochronology due to too few or too similar rings. Some regions have "floating sequences", with gaps which mean that earlier periods can only be approximately dated. As of 2024, only three areas have continuous sequences going back to prehistoric times,

3335-409: Is more uniform (complacent). In addition, some genera of trees are more suitable than others for this type of analysis. For instance, the bristlecone pine is exceptionally long-lived and slow growing, and has been used extensively for chronologies; still-living and dead specimens of this species provide tree-ring patterns going back thousands of years, in some regions more than 10,000 years. Currently,

3450-716: Is part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Egolzwil 3 is one of several sites in the Wauwilermoos (Wauwil bog) and is an example of the Egolzwil culture. The settlement is considered the oldest in Switzerland. The dendrochronological dating of the wooden piles is uncertain, but they are from around 4300 BC. The site was first excavated by H. Reinerth in 1932 and by E. Vogt and R. Wyss between 1950 and 1988. The settlement

3565-571: Is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology , the study of climate and atmospheric conditions during different periods in history from the wood of old trees. Dendrochronology derives from the Ancient Greek dendron ( δένδρον ), meaning "tree", khronos ( χρόνος ), meaning "time", and -logia ( -λογία ), "the study of". Dendrochronology

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3680-426: Is the science of determining past climates from trees primarily from the properties of the annual tree rings. Other properties of the annual rings, such as maximum latewood density (MXD) have been shown to be better proxies than simple ring width. Using tree rings, scientists have estimated many local climates for hundreds to thousands of years previous. Dendrochronology has become important to art historians in

3795-474: Is transportation infrastructure. Of the unproductive areas, 0.72% is unproductive standing water (ponds or lakes), and 0.48% is unproductive flowing water (rivers). The municipality is located on the northern edge of the Wauwilermoos . It consists of the linear village of Egolzwil. Egolzwil has a population (as of 31 December 2020) of 1,530. As of 2007, 105 or about 8.2% are not Swiss citizens. Over

3910-525: Is useful for determining the precise age of samples, especially those that are too recent for radiocarbon dating , which always produces a range rather than an exact date. However, for a precise date of the death of the tree a full sample to the edge is needed, which most trimmed timber will not provide. It also gives data on the timing of events and rates of change in the environment (most prominently climate) and also in wood found in archaeology or works of art and architecture, such as old panel paintings . It

4025-449: Is width of annual ring, t is time (in years), ρ is density of wood, k v is some coefficient, M ( t ) is function of mass growth of the tree. Ignoring the natural sinusoidal oscillations in tree mass, the formula for the changes in the annual ring width is: Δ L ( t ) = − c 1 e − a 1 t + c 2 e −

4140-769: The Canton of Lucerne (Luzern). Established in 1940, Wauwilermoos was a penal camp for internees, including Allied soldiers , among them members of the United States Army Air Forces , who were sentenced for attempting to escape from other Swiss camps for interned soldiers, or other criminal offences. Together with Hünenberg and Les Diablerets , Wauwilermoos was one of three Swiss penal camps for internees that were established in Switzerland during World War II. The intolerable conditions were later described by numerous former inmates and by various contemporary reports and studies. Established in 1940, Wauwilermoos

4255-529: The University of Arizona . Douglass sought to better understand cycles of sunspot activity and reasoned that changes in solar activity would affect climate patterns on earth, which would subsequently be recorded by tree-ring growth patterns ( i.e. , sunspots → climate → tree rings). Horizontal cross sections cut through the trunk of a tree can reveal growth rings, also referred to as tree rings or annual rings . Growth rings result from new growth in

4370-550: The Vistula region via ports of the Hanseatic League . Oak panels were used in a number of northern countries such as England , France and Germany . Wooden supports other than oak were rarely used by Netherlandish painters. Since panels of seasoned wood were used, an uncertain number of years has to be allowed for seasoning when estimating dates. Panels were trimmed of the outer rings, and often each panel only uses

4485-433: The tertiary sector , with 25 businesses in this sector. As of 2000 53.6% of the population of the municipality were employed in some capacity. At the same time, females made up 42% of the workforce. In the 2000 census the religious membership of Egolzwil was; 988 (80.6%) were Roman Catholic, and 95 (7.7%) were Protestant, with an additional 34 (2.77%) that were of some other Christian faith. There are 28 individuals (2.28% of

4600-438: The vascular cambium , a layer of cells near the bark that botanists classify as a lateral meristem ; this growth in diameter is known as secondary growth . Visible rings result from the change in growth speed through the seasons of the year; thus, critical for the title method, one ring generally marks the passage of one year in the life of the tree. Removal of the bark of the tree in a particular area may cause deformation of

4715-619: The 180s and 190s and came out 50 pounds lighter". In early December 1944 USAAF First Lieutenant Wally Northfelt was nearing his second month of imprisonment at Wauwilermoos. Northfelt attempted to escape from Switzerland near Geneva in September 1944, but he was apprehended by border guards and confined at Wauwilermoos. After his arrival at the punishment camp, Northfelt quickly tired of the "meager rations of coffee, bread, and thin soup" which he blamed in part for his weight loss of forty pounds during his time in Switzerland. Northfelt said that "he

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4830-644: The American airman Sergeant Daniel L. Culler, B-24 top turret gunner, was one of the first USAAF airmen sent to Wauwilermoos, in June 1944. On 12   May of that year Culler, the B-24's tail gunner, Howard Melson, and the British soldier Matthew Thirlaway had slipped away from Adelboden , where they were interned. They hoped to escape via Zürich and Bellinzona to Italy, rejoining the Allies near Rome. After three days in

4945-454: The American internees were eventually charged in the Swiss military justice system, "an experience that forever changed their perceptions of Swiss neutrality ". The majority of Americans held in Wauwilermoos in autumn 1944 were in "pre-trial confinement, awaiting a military tribunal by the Swiss Army for the crime of attempting escape". The Swiss military tribunals were convened by territorial courts (German: Divisionsgericht ), operating under

5060-664: The Swiss Military Court Regulations of 1889 ( Militärstrafgerichtsordnung ) and the Swiss Military Penal Code of 1927 ( Militärstrafgesetz Bundesgesetz vom 13. Juni 1927 ). The jurisdiction was established by decree of the Swiss Federal Council in 1939. Presided over by a judge or chief justice , the tribunal panels consisted of six officers and non-commissioned officers under a judge. The Federal Council selected

5175-664: The Swiss Military Criminal Code were detained. Wauwilermoos housed military internees of various nations, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and the USA. Swiss military-run prisons like Wauwilermoos were established earlier in the war, after cantonal prisons became "overcrowded with prisoners convicted in military court." According to

5290-519: The Swiss Military Criminal Code. On the 4 hectares (10 acres) site a total of 25 barracks were situated: eleven barracks with a capacity of about 550 inmates; the remaining 14 barracks were used by the Swiss camp staff. The prisoner barracks could each accommodate up to 50 people and were built from wood; they were neither insulated nor were they heated in winter. The barracks were equipped with simple beds stuffed with straw, and only officers slept on straw-filled mattresses. Sanitary facilities were basic;

5405-556: The Swiss officials. For instance Major Humbert, army doctor ( Militärarzt ) and head physician in the Seeland district of the Swiss Federal Commissioner of Internment and Hospitalization (FCIH), mentioned in three reports in January and February 1942, the "enormous morbidity" in the penal camp: "The moral atmosphere in the camp is absolutely untenable". Major Humbert also noted the despotic punishment catalogue and psychological deficits of

5520-426: The Swiss prisoners were members of the United States Army Air Forces , who were sentenced for attempting to escape from other Swiss camps for interned soldiers, or other offences. The internment prison camp was one of three Swiss penal camps for internees that were established in Switzerland during World War II. In Wauwilermoos prison camp both military internees and male civilian internees who had been convicted under

5635-590: The Ticino mountains Culler became ill, and he decided to go back to the Adelboden camp. Culler was condemned, still ill, and placed on rations of bread and water for ten days in Frutigen . When he returned to Adelboden he was sent to Wauwilermoos without any explanation; later he was informed that a judge had deemed his punishment as too light. Culler's good clothes were confiscated by camp commandant André Béguin in return for "old dirty rags." Sent to barracks 9, Culler

5750-589: The US embassy was informed of conditions by three American soldiers who had escaped from Wauwilermoos. Delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) who visited Wauwilermoos "failed to notice much amiss", and ICRC member Frédéric Hefty wrote: "If iron discipline is the norm, there is also a certain sense of justice and understanding that helps with the re-education and improvement of

5865-647: The US military in Bern , military attaché Barnwell R. Legge , instructed the soldiers not to flee so as to allow the US Legation to co-ordinate their escape attempts, but the majority of the soldiers thought it was a diplomatic ruse or did not receive the instruction directly. Soldiers who were caught after their escape from the internment camps were often detained in the Wauwilermoos prison camp near Luzern. On 1   October 1944 Switzerland housed 39,670 internees in all: 20,650 from Italy, 10,082 from Poland, 2,643 from

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5980-583: The United States, 1,121 from the United Kingdom (including five Australians), 822 from the Soviet Union, and 245 from France. In September the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was commissioned by the US Supreme Command to organise the escapes of 1,000 American internees, but this did not happen until late in the winter of 1944–45. The site was located on the former Wauwilersee lake in

6095-583: The Wauwilermoos camp in July 1945. Starting in 1943 Switzerland attempted to shoot down American and British aircraft, mainly bombers, overflying Switzerland. Six aircraft were downed by Swiss Air Force fighters and nine by anti-aircraft cannons ; 36 airmen were killed. In addition there were 137 emergency landings during the war. Officers were interned in Davos , enlisted men in Adelboden . The representative of

6210-408: The Wauwilermoos penal camp without any explanations. On the occasion of a lecture in front of Swiss officers Béguin explained his "art of bulk handling" (German: Kunst der Massenbehandlung ) on 26   June 1944: 115 internees refused to work. Three times we gave the command to work. It was refused. We examined all 115 men's pockets, left nothing therein as the handkerchiefs, and we locked all in

6325-701: The bristlecone pine in the Southwest US ( White Mountains of California). The dendrochronological equation defines the law of growth of tree rings. The equation was proposed by Russian biophysicist Alexandr N. Tetearing in his work "Theory of populations" in the form: Δ L ( t ) = 1 k v ρ 1 3 d ( M 1 3 ( t ) ) d t , {\displaystyle \Delta L(t)={\frac {1}{k_{v}\,\rho ^{\frac {1}{3}}}}\,{\frac {d\left(M^{\frac {1}{3}}(t)\right)}{dt}},} where Δ L

6440-401: The camp on several occasions, headed by Swiss Army Colonel Auguste Rilliet. The inspection team simply noted that sanitary conditions could be improved, and that prisoners were not aware of the length of their sentences or why they were in the camp in the first place. Immediately prior to the removal of the commandant in September 1945 Rilliet rated the camp conditions unsatisfactory. Wauwilermoos

6555-471: The camp, his report came to the chief of the legal department of the Swiss federal internment department, Major Florian Imer. After an inspection of the camp, Imer noted that "in particular the allegations of Major Humbert were exaggerated for the most part". Another report in January 1943 noted the camp's poor sanitary condition. At the end of 1944, Ruggero Dollfus, interim Swiss Federal commissioner for internment ( Internierungskommissär ), complained again about

6670-567: The camp. Béguin also claimed that "the barracks were built according to regulations, and despite their shortcomings, were 'of the same type as those used in the Army ' ". Officials at the US Legation in Switzerland disagreed with Béguin's "tempered description of conditions" at the penal camp. According to military attaché General Legge, the camp was: of the stockade type... surrounded by barbed wire, constantly patrolled by dogs and guards with sub-machine guns... [Conditions are] unreasonably severe, at

6785-597: The commandant of the prison camp, Captain André Béguin . His complaints resulted in no action by the authorities, and in February 1942 Humbert was dismissed. In the same year an investigation of Béguin was conducted because of possible espionage in favour of Nazi Germany. Although Colonel Robert Jaquillard, chief of the counterintelligence service of the army, spoke against the retention of Captain Béguin as commander of

6900-430: The conditions in Wauwilermoos as "worse than in enemy prison camps" and confirmed the first-hand impressions. The "meals consisted of watered-down soups and scorched stale bread". The sanitary circumstances were subpar: for instance, the latrines were just trenches, very unsanitary, and to clean them the trenches were hosed down every few weeks. Reportedly, "lice and rats were everywhere and the men got sick with boils due to

7015-404: The database software Tellervo, which is based on the new standard format whilst being able to import lots of different data formats. The desktop application can be attached to measurement devices and works with the database server that is installed separately. Bard et al write in 2023: "The oldest tree-ring series are known as floating since, while their constituent rings can be counted to create

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7130-491: The dating of panel paintings . However, unlike analysis of samples from buildings, which are typically sent to a laboratory, wooden supports for paintings usually have to be measured in a museum conservation department, which places limitations on the techniques that can be used. In addition to dating, dendrochronology can also provide information as to the source of the panel. Many Early Netherlandish paintings have turned out to be painted on panels of "Baltic oak" shipped from

7245-797: The difficult elements sent there". The reports contained statements from internees that the camp was "a relaxing place that they would happily return to". However, "the internees provided their statements in return for favours from Béguin". The conditions in the camp were not reported correctly. "Switzerland's wartime general, Henri Guisan , demanded that all Red Cross reports about the internment camps be submitted to army censors first if delegates wanted access" notes historian Dwight S. Mears. The American military attaché in Bern warned Marcel Pilet-Golaz , Swiss foreign minister in 1944, that "the mistreatment inflicted on US aviators could lead to 'navigation errors' during bombing raids over Germany". The ICRC inspected

7360-623: The effects on tree rings of defoliation caused by insect infestations. By 1882, this observation was already appearing in forestry textbooks. In the 1870s, the Dutch astronomer Jacobus Kapteyn (1851–1922) was using crossdating to reconstruct the climates of the Netherlands and Germany. In 1881, the Swiss-Austrian forester Arthur von Seckendorff -Gudent (1845–1886) was using crossdating. From 1869 to 1901, Robert Hartig (1839–1901),

7475-563: The foothills of the Northern Alps , the southwestern United States and the British Isles. Miyake events , which are major spikes in cosmic rays at known dates, are visible in trees rings and can fix the dating of a floating sequence. The Greek botanist Theophrastus (c. 371 – c. 287 BC) first mentioned that the wood of trees has rings. In his Trattato della Pittura (Treatise on Painting), Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)

7590-542: The group travelled unaccosted to a city near the French border where they were arrested by an observant Swiss soldier. They were first confined in the Basel city jail for three days and then transferred to Wauwilermoos where Ellington recalled "barbed wire, straw bunks, and guard dogs". After nearly a month in Wauwilermoos, Ellington and his companions were transported to Bern to appear at the Swiss military tribunal. Each defendant

7705-405: The history of building technology. Many prehistoric forms of buildings used "posts" that were whole young tree trunks; where the bottom of the post has survived in the ground these can be especially useful for dating. Examples: There are many different file formats used to store tree ring width data. Effort for standardisation was made with the development of TRiDaS. Further development led to

7820-575: The intent of the Federal Council, for most of 1944 the Swiss authorities did not follow the custodia honesta model, but rather "grouped American internees with common criminals in Wauwilermoos". From July 1941 to September 1945 Wauwilermoos was under the command of Swiss Army captain Andre Béguin. The harsh detention conditions were later described by numerous former inmates and by various contemporary reports and studies. For instance,

7935-426: The isotopes of carbon and oxygen in their spines ( acanthochronology ). These are used for dating in a manner similar to dendrochronology, and such techniques are used in combination with dendrochronology, to plug gaps and to extend the range of the seasonal data available to archaeologists and paleoclimatologists . A similar technique is used to estimate the age of fish stocks through the analysis of growth rings in

8050-417: The judges and panel members for three-year terms. They retained their regular military positions while serving the court. The military court regulations specified that the chairmen must "hold at least a major degree", but the judges were not required to be trained in law, despite their position as "chairman of the court". Also a prosecutor, defence attorney, court clerk, and in the case of foreign defendants,

8165-689: The last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 5.8%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (93.0%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 2.3%) and Albanian being third ( 1.2%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the CVP which received 45.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (26.8%), the SVP (17.6%) and the Green Party (5.4%). The age distribution, as of 2008, in Egolzwil is; 331 people or 25.9% of

8280-498: The latrines were simple trenches in the earth. The diet was meagre and poor. The detainees were widely lacking medical care. Even access to auxiliary packets from the Red Cross and communication by letter were denied. The officer barracks were designed for only 20 occupants, but had 86 by autumn 1944. As a result André Béguin explained that "he could no longer provide amenities such as sheets and shaving mirrors for officers below

8395-552: The latter half of the nineteenth century, the scientific study of tree rings and the application of dendrochronology began. In 1859, the German-American Jacob Kuechler (1823–1893) used crossdating to examine oaks ( Quercus stellata ) in order to study the record of climate in western Texas. In 1866, the German botanist, entomologist, and forester Julius Theodor Christian Ratzeburg (1801–1871) observed

8510-418: The lieutenant, in an "arrest local beside the pigsty". Dziedic had to take off his uniform and put on rags, and was paraded through the camp. In the second half of December 1943, the then 26 Soviet internees were sent, along with other detainees, to fetch wood from the forest. They were accompanied by several guards with dogs who ordered the soldiers to collect significantly more wood than normal and take it to

8625-458: The longevity of the trees (up to c.4900 years) in addition to the use of dead samples meant a long, unbroken tree ring sequence could be developed (dating back to c.  6700 BC ). Additional studies of European oak trees, such as the master sequence in Germany that dates back to c.  8500 BC , can also be used to back up and further calibrate radiocarbon dates. Dendroclimatology

8740-779: The lowest subsistence level, and mud ankle deep. General Legge considered them worse than those in POW camps in Nazi Germany. Prior to the escape attempts of summer 1944, only a few American internees were condemned to Wauwilermoos, usually for "drunkenness and disorderly conduct" and with the tacit approval of the US legation. Once the escapes of American POWs increased, the "Swiss government sent every offender to Wauwilermoos, normally for two or three months without trial". By autumn 1944, over 100 American internees were incarcerated in Wauwilermoos, and "the Swiss government threatened to keep them there without trial for six to seven months". Many of

8855-432: The maximum span for fully anchored chronology is a little over 11,000 years B.P. IntCal20 is the 2020 "Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve", which provides a calibrated carbon 14 dated sequence going back 55,000 years. The most recent part, going back 13,900 years, is based on tree rings. European chronologies derived from wooden structures initially found it difficult to bridge the gap in the fourteenth century when there

8970-472: The municipalities of Egolzwil , Wauwil and Schötz in the Canton of Luzern in Switzerland. Peat at the former Wauwilersee lake had been mined since 1820, and the area was drained in the mid-19th century. Due to the fact that the camp was built on a former lake, the internees often sank to their ankles in mud. The camp was under the supervision of the Swiss Army . From the beginning, Wauwilermoos had

9085-451: The municipality. Most homes were either two (109) or three (70) story structures. There were only 13 single story buildings and 11 four or more story buildings. Egolzwil has an unemployment rate of 1.6%. As of 2005, there were 48 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 17 businesses involved in this sector. 113 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 12 businesses in this sector. 301 people are employed in

9200-412: The poor sanitation. Among others Dollfus noted that the Red Cross auxiliary packets were confiscated by Béguin, and nearly 500 letters from and to the airmen had been withheld by the commandant. Béguin, was suspended and banned from entering the camp effective 5   September 1945. On 24   September he was taken into custody. On 20   February 1946, a military court sentenced Béguin to three and

9315-523: The population is 0–19 years old. 347 people or 27.1% are 20–39 years old, and 474 people or 37.1% are 40–64 years old. The senior population distribution is 92 people or 7.2% are 65–79 years old, 31 or 2.4% are 80–89 years old and 4 people or 0.3% of the population are 90+ years old. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Egolzwil about 72.9% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or

9430-427: The population) who are Muslim. Of the rest; there were 6 (0.49%) individuals who belong to another religion (not listed), 27 (2.2%) who do not belong to any organized religion, 48 (3.92%) who did not answer the question. The historical population is given in the following table: The prehistoric lakeside settlement at Wauwilermoos is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance . The Egolzwil 3 settlement

9545-469: The prison camp, 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) from the forest. The Soviet internees refused to comply with this, and a guard fired his gun into the air and set the dogs on his prisoners. For this alleged resistance, soldier Malfejw was detained for ten days in the punishment cell. In a fight among inmates of barrack 29 on 28   September 1944, a 27-year-old Soviet internee was shot by the guards and another wounded by two bullets. Robert Gamperl, probably

9660-505: The rank of captain". Firewood to heat the stoves was also in short supply. In response to the Americans "who [threatened to cut] up tables and benches to keep warm", Béguin claimed surprise, and resolved that "if they behaved churlishly we could no longer treat them like officers". The commandant claimed that the allocation of firewood was greater than the quantity rationed to Swiss soldiers, a comparison used to justify many conditions around

9775-717: The real reasons, a hearing by the legal officer and reprieve to the clarification of the matter". His letter was never forwarded from Wauwilermoos; neither were letters from Alfred Friedrich and Josef Haslinger. Jules Keller, a medical student, had deserted from the German Army. From Wauwilermoos he sent at least five requests between 23   August and 2   November 1944 to the Federal Commissioner for Internment. Keller asked for health reasons to spend internment near his aunts in Zürich. He argued that because of

9890-411: The remainder (1.2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). In the 1997 land survey, 23.74% of the total land area was forested. Of the agricultural land, 58.51% is used for farming or pastures, while 3.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the settled areas, 6.95% is covered with buildings, 1.2% is industrial, 0.24% is classed as special developments, 0.24% is parks or greenbelts and 4.32%

10005-462: The rings as the plant overgrows the scar. The rings are more visible in trees which have grown in temperate zones , where the seasons differ more markedly. The inner portion of a growth ring forms early in the growing season, when growth is comparatively rapid (hence the wood is less dense) and is known as "early wood" (or "spring wood", or "late-spring wood" ); the outer portion is the "late wood" (sometimes termed "summer wood", often being produced in

10120-454: The same locale, in overlapping fashion, chronologies can be built up—both for entire geographical regions and for sub-regions. Moreover, wood from ancient structures with known chronologies can be matched to the tree-ring data (a technique called 'cross-dating'), and the age of the wood can thereby be determined precisely. Dendrochronologists originally carried out cross-dating by visual inspection; more recently, they have harnessed computers to do

10235-482: The same subject, that of Christ expelling the money-lenders from the Temple . The results showed that the age of the wood was too late for any of them to have been painted by Hieronymus Bosch . While dendrochronology has become an important tool for dating oak panels, it is not effective in dating the poplar panels often used by Italian painters because of the erratic growth rings in poplar. The sixteenth century saw

10350-445: The secondary root xylem of perennial herbaceous plants . Similar seasonal patterns also occur in ice cores and in varves (layers of sediment deposition in a lake, river, or sea bed). The deposition pattern in the core will vary for a frozen-over lake versus an ice-free lake, and with the fineness of the sediment. Sclerochronology is the study of algae deposits. Some columnar cacti also exhibit similar seasonal patterns in

10465-536: The selection of trees for study of long time-spans. For instance, missing rings are rare in oak and elm trees. Critical to the science, trees from the same region tend to develop the same patterns of ring widths for a given period of chronological study. Researchers can compare and match these patterns ring-for-ring with patterns from trees which have grown at the same time in the same geographical zone (and therefore under similar climatic conditions). When one can match these tree-ring patterns across successive trees in

10580-455: The source of ships as well as smaller artifacts made from wood, but which were transported long distances, such as panels for paintings and ship timbers. Miyake events , such as the ones in 774–775 and 993–994 , can provide fixed reference points in an unknown time sequence as they are due to cosmic radiation. As they appear as spikes in carbon 14 in tree rings for that year all round the world, they can be used to date historical events to

10695-400: The summer, though sometimes in the autumn) and is denser. Many trees in temperate zones produce one growth-ring each year, with the newest adjacent to the bark. Hence, for the entire period of a tree's life, a year-by-year record or ring pattern builds up that reflects the age of the tree and the climatic conditions in which the tree grew. Adequate moisture and a long growing season result in

10810-413: The task, applying statistical techniques to assess the matching. To eliminate individual variations in tree-ring growth, dendrochronologists take the smoothed average of the tree-ring widths of multiple tree-samples to build up a 'ring history', a process termed replication. A tree-ring history whose beginning- and end-dates are not known is called a 'floating chronology'. It can be anchored by cross-matching

10925-477: The term for the application of dendrochronology in archaeology. While archaeologists can date wood and when it was felled, it may be difficult to definitively determine the age of a building or structure in which the wood was used; the wood could have been reused from an older structure, may have been felled and left for many years before use, or could have been used to replace a damaged piece of wood. The dating of building via dendrochronology thus requires knowledge of

11040-470: The tribunal continued after his departure, and was never informed of the actual verdict. This "demonstrates that internees had difficulty comprehending their experience with Swiss military justice due to both language and cultural differences, and the fact that they were effectively serving their sentences in advance of the tribunal verdicts". Under the title "Das ist ein Skandal, Mit Hunden gehetzt" ("This

11155-410: The tribunal was not delivered for another 20 days, by a slightly altered panel on which one of the Swiss captains had been replaced by another officer of the same rank. The verdict was 75 days confinement for each of the four defendants, with 45 days deducted for pre-trial confinement. In addition, they were each fined their pro-rated share of the trial cost of 17.5 Swiss francs. Ellington was unaware that

11270-482: The unsanitary conditions". They "also lost weight, mostly about 40 pounds". Béguin castigated American internees by "subjecting them to cruel punishments and solitary confinements for minor infractions". The soldiers also were "imprisoned a total of 7 months"; the Hague Convention allowed only 30 days confinement. In addition, the internees did not know the length of their sentences. 2nd Lt. Paul Gambaiana

11385-409: The whole thing. James Misuraca spoke about the compound of single-storey buildings surrounded by barbed wire, the armed Swiss guards with dogs, and the commandant, "a hater of Americans, a martinet who seemed quite pleased with our predicament". Arriving on 10   October 1944, Misuraca and two other US officers made an escape on 1   November. They had "timed the rounds of the guards, climbed out

11500-405: The width of annual growth rings; by taking samples from different sites within a particular region, researchers can build a comprehensive historical sequence. The techniques of dendrochronology are more consistent in areas where trees grew in marginal conditions such as aridity or semi-aridity where the ring growth is more sensitive to the environment, rather than in humid areas where tree-ring growth

11615-592: The year. For example, wooden houses in the Viking site at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland were dated by finding the layer with the 993 spike, which showed that the wood is from a tree felled in 1021. Researchers at the University of Bern have provided exact dating of a floating sequence in a Neolithic settlement in northern Greece by tying it to a spike in cosmogenic radiocarbon in 5259 BC. Frost ring

11730-521: Was a building hiatus, which coincided with the Black Death . However, there do exist unbroken chronologies dating back to prehistoric times, for example the Danish chronology dating back to 352 BC. Given a sample of wood, the variation of the tree-ring growths not only provides a match by year, but can also match location because climate varies from place to place. This makes it possible to determine

11845-427: Was a laborious process and did not facilitate the swift execution of justice. The Swiss military justice system was overwhelmed by the rash of escape attempts in the summer of 1944. For the minority of indicted internees who eventually received verdicts the average sentence was 74 days in prison, but the average time to complete the investigations and military tribunals was 82 days. For instance, Sgt. Dale Ellington,

11960-631: Was a penal camp for internees, particularly for Allied soldiers during World War II. Unlike civilians , for instance Jewish refugees, who were usually sent back to the territories occupied by the Nazi regime, the Swiss government was required by the Geneva Convention of 1929 to keep these soldiers interned until the end of hostilities. The soldiers were held in barracks, and they were used as workers for agriculture and industry, except for officers who were not compelled to work and stayed in unoccupied mountain hotels, mainly in Davos . Among

12075-548: Was another USAAF airman sent to the camp. Just before D-Day his aircraft went down. In a telephone interview from his home in Iowa in 2013 Gambaiana said: [the crew] wanted to get back to our base so we attempted to leave Switzerland, and they got us and put us there. It was a Swiss concentration camp. About the only thing I can remember ... we had cabbage soup which was hot water and two leaves of cabbage floating around...The rest I have put away and forgotten. I'm trying to forget

12190-417: Was appointed at his own request as the commander of the camp. The sanitary facilities were dysfunctional, and Béguin stole the food packages and harassed the Allied internees. "He was a Nazi, not only a Nazi sympathizer," Robert Cardenas told CBS 8 News in a 2013 interview. Cardenas, a retired US Air Force brigadier general, was a captain in the 44th Bomb Group interned in Switzerland in 1944. While Cardenas

12305-407: Was given a copy of the poorly translated charges, and had "methodically listed the identities of the defendants, the charges against them, a catalog of evidence, and the names of their tribunal jurors", in fact the only trial record they received. The tribunal panel consisted of three Swiss officers, of which the highest ranking were two captains, and three enlisted soldiers. During the interrogation,

12420-524: Was horrible. Between 149 and 161 Americans who were caught attempting to escape in 1944 were sent to Wauwilermoos, "where their confinement would eventually test the limits of international law." The American internees remained in Wauwilermoos until November 1944, when the US State Department lodged protests against the Swiss government and secured their release. The agreement did not impact all nationalities, as Soviet internees were still at

12535-436: Was not himself sent to Wauwilermoos, he did visit it and witnessed the camp's abysmal conditions firsthand. In his recollection: the beds were wooden planks or some of them were only straw on the floor ... American prisoners were subjected to physical and sexual abuse, starvation, freezing, disease-ridden conditions and virtually no hygiene facilities ... [the camp] was exactly like, if not worse than, any POW camp in Germany, it

12650-427: Was occupied for only about 6 years and had several rows of houses with bark covered floors. A number of ceramic, stone, flint and antler tools were found, along with round bottom pots, flagons and beakers. Wauwilermoos internment camp Wauwilermoos was an internment camp and prisoner-of-war penal camp in Switzerland during World War II . It was situated in the municipalities of Wauwil and Egolzwil in

12765-483: Was only able to get enough food to survive by purchasing it off the black market". Northfelt was also ill; sleeping on dirty straw had caused sores all over his body, and he had problems with his prostate gland . Medical care was given by a doctor, Northfelt said, who "specialized in women's cases". Northfelt said Béguin was a "pro-Nazi" who "only cleaned up the camp when inspections by high ranking officers or American dignitaries were announced". On 3   November 1944

12880-433: Was repeatedly raped by internees from Soviet Union. He reported this to Béguin and some of the guards who laughed and sent him back. The next days they even closed Culler's barrack at night. The torture did not end until new internees became Culler's roommates: "I was bleeding everywhere", Culler said later. Culler fell seriously ill and was transferred to hospital. Béguin, who has been labelled "a disgrace to Switzerland",

12995-404: Was sent in, pulling him to the ground and tearing his clothes. A guard kicked the internee lying on the ground before Dobroliubov was sent to the punishment cell. Symforian Dziedic, a Polish lieutenant, was voluntarily returned to Switzerland after fleeing to France. After a second attempt to escape at the end of 1943, he was imprisoned in Wauwilermoos again. Béguin locked Dziedic, as described by

13110-412: Was the first person to mention that trees form rings annually and that their thickness is determined by the conditions under which they grew. In 1737, French investigators Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau and Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon examined the effect of growing conditions on the shape of tree rings. They found that in 1709, a severe winter produced a distinctly dark tree ring, which served as

13225-534: Was the subject of official protests by the United States, Great Britain, Poland, and Italy, as well as a barrier to the normalisation of diplomatic relations with the USSR. Numerous Swiss citizens reported that the conditions at Wauwilermoos were in violation of the 1929 Geneva Conventions, including a Swiss Army medical officer, an officer on the Swiss Army's General Staff, and the editors of two Swiss newspapers. Starting in 1942 on-site inspections had been carried out by

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