View of Säntis from Seealpsee lake, circa 1890. Photography by Albert Riggenbach-Burckhardt.
Murder on Säntis

In February 1922, the operator of the Säntis weather station and his wife became victims of a crime. New findings are shining a light on the dark story behind this crime that caused widespread consternation.

Switzerland – a nation of skiers: How much is reality? How much is myth?
The whole country is skiing! The whole country…?

For years, Switzerland has celebrated itself as a nation of skiers. Where does this self-image come from? Is it more of a myth, or more of a reality?

Curling in the Grisons, about 1940.
From Scottish gentlemen to the «Eisgenossinnen»

How a traditional game from Scotland became a glamour sport in Switzerland, and then went back to being a traditional game ‘of the people’: A brief history of curling in Switzerland

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The pioneering brewer with an honorary doctorate

Dominik Landwehr 03.02.2023 Fritz Schoellhorn was a successful businessman, brewer and owner of Haldengut Brewery in Winterthur. He was even awarded an honorary doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) for his technical and scientific achievements.
The workforce of Haldengut Brewery in 1889, with director Fritz Schoellhorn sitting in the centre.

The year Lake Zurich froze over

Julia Hübner 01.02.2023 It's hard to imagine now, but it actually happened in the winter of 1963. Lake Zurich froze over entirely. The authorities opened the ice on 1 February, and the last public festival on the lake began.

Secret support for Mary Stuart

Beatriz Chadour-Sampson 26.01.2023 Rings can be more than simply adornment, expression of personal sentiment or symbols of status, they can also conceal or openly show allegiance to a political cause. In some cases, such affiliations could have dangerous consequences, even death.
This finger ring symbolises the wearer's loyalty to Mary I of Scotland, also known as Mary Stuart.

Victims of Labour – a memorial that broke the mould

Barbara Basting 24.01.2023 Artists were among the many to draw inspiration from the opening of the Gotthard railway tunnel 140 years ago. Prominent Ticino sculptor Vincenzo Vela created a contemporaneous memorial to those lost during its construction, entitled Victims of Labour. This key work was not particularly well received at the time, however.
Vincenzo Vela's Victims of Labour memorial in Airolo.
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When bombs fell on Kallnach

Juri Jaquemet 06.01.2023 On 6 January 1918, five bombs were dropped near the station in Kallnach, sending shock waves through the ‘Grand Marais’ in Bern’s Seeland region. Fortunately, there was only some damage to property but no casualties. It quickly became clear that the bombs were French-made. But the question of who dropped them remains a mystery...
In early January 1918, the Bernese village of Kallnach was bombed. This postcard from 1915 shows the station close to where the bombs exploded.

Mickey Mouse goes up in flames

Menoa Stauffer 13.01.2023 Comics smoulder, books burn: in Aargau in 1965, mounds of so-called “trashy fiction” ended up on a fire. The campaign was called “Fight the trash", and it was intended to set the scene for further book burnings. But the scheme backfired.
Book burning in Switzerland in 1965: the people of Brugg look on as so-called “inferior” literature – comics, cheap novels and tabloid newspapers – is consigned to the flames.

The naked sun doctor

Michael van Orsouw 27.07.2022 Opinions were divided on naturopath Arnold Rikli. He delivered his holistic form of treatment, which involved bathing in the nude, at a sanatorium he had set up himself. Not in Switzerland, but in what is now Slovenia. The Monte Verità counterculture group was inspired, ultimately, by many of Rikli’s ideas and practices.
Steam baths were part of Rikli’s water-air-light therapy.

Recycling station buildings

Katrin Brunner 17.01.2023 In the early days, the railways were viewed with some scepticism as a new mode of transport. This is reflected in the inexpensive makeshift stations which were only gradually replaced by prestigious buildings, and in turn the practice of station recycling.
After its first life on the shores of Lake Constance, parts of the Rorschach station concourse were transported to Glarus in 1861 where they were reused. Engraving dated 1856.

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