A series of Swiss passports, 1915–2003.
The Federal Constitution: helping ensure a fairer naturalisation process

The communes play a key role in accepting or rejecting applications for Swiss citizenship, which poses a risk of arbitrary or discriminatory decisions. The fundamental rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution serve as an important corrective.

Farewell home: five Benedictine nuns travelled to the United States to establish a convent. Illustration by Marco Heer.
“Farewell, dear homeland!”

On 17 August 1874, five nuns left Maria-Rickenbach Benedictine Convent in the canton of Nidwalden and emigrated to the American Midwest. Sister Maria Beatrix Renggli (1848–1942) recorded her journey in a detailed travel journal.

Photo from the very early days of the Sportschule Magglingen in the canton of Bern, 1940s.
Youth and sport: in the service of your country?

Public health, educational and military lobbies have all influenced sporting pursuits since at least the 19th century. The state-sponsored sport promotion programme ‘Jugend+Sport’ and its preceding initiatives testify to that.

Latest posts

Bread rolls and painkillers for breakfast

Bettina Kurz 13.05.2026 Instances of kidney disease spiked in the Jura mountains during the 1960s. This was the legacy of the local watchmakers’ decades-long penchant for painkillers.
Watchmakers at A. Schild SA (Assa) leaving the factory at the end of their shift. Photo from 1924.

Dammed: the major reservoir projects that never were

Helmut Stalder 07.05.2026 Eighty years ago, the residents of two Swiss mountain valleys managed to avert two huge reservoir projects. In Rheinwald, an early citizen movement took hold, while in the Urseren valley, it took a full-blown riot. It was the first time the people really stood up and reined in technology.
The protest against the planned reservoir in the Urseren valley went beyond displaying placards...

A Swiss diplomat in Stalin’s jail

François Wisard 05.05.2026 Harald Feller was kidnapped by the Soviets in Budapest in 1945. While he languished in Stalin's prisons for a year, Swiss authorities placed him under investigation. After his return, Feller was cleared of all charges. But nobody was interested anymore.
Harald Feller joined the diplomatic service in 1939. In 1943, he was transferred to Budapest, where he was kidnapped by the Soviets in February 1945.

People’s Assemblies in Switzerland and their contribution to direct democracy

René Roca 30.04.2026 Glarus holds its People’s Assembly every first Sunday in May. This tradition goes back to the early days of democracy in the Middle Ages.
People’s Assembly in Glarus, photograph probably dating from the late 19th century.
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Tsunamis on Lake Lucerne

Noah Businger 17.03.2026 Switzerland’s first-ever tsunami hazard map was created for the canton of Nidwalden in 2015. How did this come about?
One of the greatest natural disasters in Swiss history: in 1806, a landslide triggered a giant wave in Lake Lauerz.

Cool beer – all year round

Géraldine Lysser 16.04.2026 For a long time, beer was a seasonal product of varying quality. The invention of mechanical refrigeration changed all that, freeing breweries from their reliance on natural ice.
Beers all round at the Prestegg Restaurant in Altstätten, circa 1930.

Sexuality in the Middle Ages

Valérie Lüthi 13.06.2024 If we hazard a look at the medieval era, we discover a history of sexuality that is far more multilayered than we might at first have imagined. While the Christian church sought to extend its influence into private bedchambers, ‘lascivious’ attitudes and practices stood in the way of its ambitions.
Detail from The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, 1490-1500.

Gladiators — tragic heroes

Eva Carlevaro 14.04.2026 Gladiatorial fights were among the bloodiest spectacles of the Roman world. They were also extremely popular on the territory of what is now Switzerland.
Pollice Verso, with a turned thumb. Often the fate of a defeated gladiator was in the hands of the crowd. Painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1872.

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