Swiss Colony, Bernstadt In 1881, a group of emigrants created their own little piece of Switzerland in Laurel County, naming their new town �Bernstadt� in honor of Bern, Switzerland�s capital. The colony was big enough at one time to spawn an offshoot: East Bernstadt, a few miles down the road. Though the population has dwindled considerably now, some long-time residents are holding on to their Swiss traditions and German language�one even still makes Swiss cheese. Jesse and Alfred Keller, Edna Binder, and Rick Ott reminisce about their own and their parents� childhoods, when children sometimes didn�t learn English until they went to school. Bernstadt is about eight miles northeast of London on Kentucky Highway 80. |