Talented Swiss waterskier Alice Baumann training on Lake Zurich, August 1962.
A balancing act on water

Alice Baumann was one of the world’s most successful waterskiers in the 1960s. Time for a look at some exhilarating photos from the pioneering age of water skiing.

Watchtowers, the alarm system of the Old Swiss Confederacy

Whereas sirens sound the alarm nowadays, hundreds of years ago it used to be watchtowers. Beacons could mobilise troops within a few hours, from the Rhine to Lake Geneva.

View of Thun and the Hotel Bellevue with the steamer ‘Bellevue’ on the left, coloured aquatint by Heinrich Siegfried, circa 1840, publisher Rudolf Dikenmann, Zurich.
Showcasing the stunning views of Lake Thun

Tourism was developed in Switzerland in the 19th century through innovation and investment. This was mainly driven by private individuals who recognised the sector’s potential and wanted to tap into it. In the Thun region, these tourism pioneers included the Knechtenhofer family.

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The woman who saved folk music

Rachel Huber 21.09.2023 Armed with a steely resolve and tape recorder, Hanny Christen from Basel-Landschaft preserved folk music during the 1950s, just as it was in danger of dying out.
Hanny Christen at work collecting folk songs.

Switzerland's role in deaf education

James Blake Wiener 19.09.2023 Around 400 years ago, scholars began to address the education of deaf people and developed sign language for the first time. Switzerland played an interesting, complex and perhaps outsized role in this process.
The French pioneer in deaf education, Abbé de l'Eppé, demonstrates the teaching of deaf children in front of the French King Louis XVI.

Making money till the end

Helmut Stalder 15.09.2023 Kaspar Stockalper built up a conglomerate in Valais that shrewdly exploited the crises of the 17th century. To him, amassing wealth was a religious mission and a ticket to eternal salvation. But that didn't save him from a political conspiracy through which his rivals brought about his downfall.
Kaspar Stockalper dedicated his life to making money. He believed that this was his divine mission. Illustration by Marco Heer

Neutrality as a business model

Helmut Stalder 14.09.2023 Amidst the turmoil of the Thirty Years’ War, Kaspar Stockalper held three trump cards: the Simplon pass, mercenaries and salt. From the seat of his trading empire in Brig, he developed the cunning yet lucrative strategy of international double dealing.
The King of Brig used his power mercilessly. Illustration by Marco Heer
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Popular posts

Fighting in and out of the ring

Chiara Zgraggen 01.09.2023 Schwingen, the traditional, homegrown style of wrestling, is as much a part of Switzerland as chocolate and watches. At least, as long as it’s men who are donning the breeches. But when it comes to women’s involvement in the sport, it’s a whole different story ‒ one that has caused quite a few scandals.
The first women’s wrestling event in Aeschi bei Spiez attracted some 15,000 spectators (of both sexes).

The Walser Migrations

James Blake Wiener 22.11.2022 The Walsers migrated outwards to settle and tame uncultivated pastures in the harsh high altitudes of the Alps between c. 1150-1450. This migration represents one of the last great movements of peoples during the Middle Ages, and the legacy of Walser resourcefulness still looms large in Swiss culture.
The former Walser settlement of Sapün, below Arosa GR.

Bernese whey receives royal approval

Michael van Orsouw 24.08.2023 Sisi, the famous Empress Elisabeth, was a much more frequent visitor to Switzerland than previously known. She visited the Bernese Oberland in 1892, where she very much enjoyed a local product normally used as pig feed...
Sisi felt very much at home in the Bernese Oberland. And not just because of the excellent whey, which she drank by the litre.

A moving mountain: the enigma of the Rosablanche

Felix Frey 29.08.2023 In 1915, land surveyors realised that the summit of the Rosablanche mountain in the canton of Valais had moved several metres in the space of just a few years. Today, the cause of the movement is more relevant than ever.

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