Michael Jucker21.03.2024The word sport conjures up images of modern sporting pursuits, such as football, cycling, rugby and skiing. But what about during the fondly remembered Middle Ages? Did sport exist back then and, if so, how did it compare to the modern competitions held on the territory now known as Switzerland?
Michael Jucker14.03.2023The over 100-year history of Zurich football club FC Hakoah highlights the importance of Jewish sport in the building of identity and the integration of Jews in Switzerland.
Michael Jucker16.12.2022How much religion can there be in sport? And has sport really become a substitute religion? A step back to Swiss wrestling festivals (Schwingfeste), jousting tournaments and monasteries.
Michael Jucker20.05.2022What a party! Chanting fans, fireworks, cheering and applause coalesce in a sea of flags – for many people, these scenes are rowdy, intimidating, uncivilised and uncouth. For others this is the highest of highs, an eruption of fan euphoria representing a cultural phenomenon that is now widespread, but about which very little is known.
Michael Jucker04.03.2022Nowadays it goes without saying that, hot on the heels of the Olympics, comes the Paralympics, in which people with disabilities compete on the same global platform. But it’s only since 1988 that the two sporting events have truly shared a stage. A look at the history of sport for the disabled.
Michael Jucker10.11.2021Around 1880, women here and there in Switzerland picked up boxing gloves for the first time. With their efforts initially dismissed as circus sideshows, women battled until the 1990s to be allowed to box competitively.
Michael Jucker07.05.2021We mentally associate schwingen, traditional Swiss wrestling, with brawny herdsmen fighting a clean fight in idyllic mountain surroundings. But it’s not as straightforward as that. Urban dwellers played a bigger role in popularising the sport than one might think.
