![Postcard featuring the Matterhorn, 1980.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/postkarte-mit-matterhorn-1980-300x225.jpg)
Switzerland: a land of paradoxes
It can be hard to get a true picture of something when you’re only seeing it from the inside – to really understand it, you need the view from outside as well. Take the Swiss mentality, for example. On closer inspection, our mindset turns out to be a multifaceted mirror reflecting a country filled with paradoxes and contradictions.
![Gold](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/gold-dig-26123-m-160612-300x271.jpg)
![Station clock and Micheline Calmy-Rey’s shoes: symbols of punctuality and diplomacy, two “typical” Swiss characteristics.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/uhr-und-schuhe-188x300.jpg)
![Postcard showing touristic subjects such as flag-throwers, Cervelat and the Matterhorn, 1990.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/postkarte-mit-touristischen-sujets-gbe-135940-lm-15478235-207x300.jpg)
![“They’re overwhelmed. Our culture leaves them lost for words!” “To exterminate or not to exterminate? That is the question!” Chuchichäschtli, or, being overwhelmed by Swiss culture.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/chuchichaeschtli-300x290.jpg)