Little Switzerland (Germany)

Franconian Switzerland (German: Fränkische Schweiz) is an upland in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the River Pegnitz in the east and the south, the River Regnitz in the west and the River Main in the north, its relief, which reaches 600 metres in height, forms the northern part of the Franconian Jura (Frankenjura).

Franconian Switzerland was given its name by Romantic artists and poets in the 19th century who compared its landscape to Switzerland. The Franconian Switzerland is famous for its high density of traditional breweries.

The region was once called Muggendorfer Gebürg (Muggendorf hills). The first tourists arrived during the age of Romanticism. Two law students of Erlangen University, Ludwig Tieck and Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder have been credited as "discoverers" of the region. The episode "Eine Reise in die Fränkische Schweiz" in their joint production Franz Sternbalds Wanderungen (Berlin, 1798) enthralled many contemporaries.

The 1820 book Die kleine Schweiz (Little Switzerland), written by Jakob Reiselsberger of Waischenfeld, gave the region its name. In 1829, a book by German salesman and local historian Joseph Heller, Muggendorf und seine Umgebung oder die Fränkische Schweiz (Muggendorf and its surrounding or the Franconian Switzerland) was published.

The description Switzerland was common during the 19th century for landscapes with mountains, valleys and most significantly rocks, e.g., Saxon Switzerland, Marcher Switzerland, Mecklenburg Switzerland and Holstein Switzerland.

...
Wikipedia