Glacier changes have been documented since the 19th century. Illustration by Marco Heer.
Internationally coordinated glacier measurements: a lofty challenge

Internationally coordinated glacier observation originated in Switzerland. Maintaining glacier measurements proved difficult during the two world wars. However, Paul-Louis Mercanton from Switzerland kept the research work going amidst the global turmoil.

Zwei Fussballerinnen beim Training hinter dem Zürcher Letzigrund-Stadion, März 1968.
Football for all – but only for the last 50 years

1968 marked a turning point in the history of Swiss football. It was the year the sport finally became accessible to everyone: on 28 February, with the establishment of ‘Damen-Fussball-Club Zürich’ (DFCZ), Switzerland’s first women’s football club was founded.

The Bürgenstock: an idyllic ensemble with hotels, mountains, lake and lift. Postcard from 1928.
Europe’s highest open-air lift

The Bürgenstock has always known how to skilfully attract attention, as it did back in 1905 for example with the spectacular Hammetschwand lift – a marvel of Swiss engineering. Over the years, the lift has been a source of both admiration and rumour.

Latest posts

A kiosk that moved with the times

Aaron Estermann 04.04.2025 The Locarno kiosk was much more than a small booth for the display and sale of goods. At various times throughout its almost 100-year history it was a newspaper kiosk, an information point for tourists seeking adventure and an internet café. All of which makes it a witness to economic and social change in all its facets.
Detail of the Locarno kiosk: it stood at various locations throughout the city for around 100 years and is now part of the Swiss National Museum’s collection.

Horses for courses: a symbol of masculinity or a girl’s best friend?

Noemi Steuerwald 02.04.2025 Ponies as the silky-smooth projection of feminine sensitivity; riding as a girl’s pink, heart-shaped dream. This cultural image, although common today, only emerged around the mid-20th century.
The horse – both a symbol of manliness and a little girl’s dream. A brush drawing by Simon Volmar, circa 1830.

Eurovision and the Jungfraujoch

Juri Jaquemet 31.03.2025 Eurovision was the original name of cooperative pan-European programmes that were first broadcast on TV in the 1950s. This required a sophisticated radio relay network, with technologically advanced Switzerland at its heart.
Aerial photo of the radio relay station on the Jungfraujoch, 1963. This is where TV pictures crossed the Alps. Other relay channels were also used for telephone signals, relieving pressure on the north-south telephone cable.

The power of the cooperative

René Roca 27.03.2025 The principle of the cooperative was indispensable to the establishment of Swiss democracy. The UN International Year of Cooperatives in 2025 demonstrates that this type of cooperation is also important at a global level.
Switzerland’s oldest cooperative? The statue of three Confederates in the Domed Hall of the Federal Palace.
All posts

Find blog posts on the map

The number in the circle shows how many blog posts are in the corresponding region. Zoom in with the +/- keys on the right or with Ctrl and the mouse wheel to display the individual articles. Click on a circle without a number to select the blog article.

Popular posts

From India to Switzerland

Manda Beck 25.02.2025 Today, yoga is a popular fitness and relaxation technique. But it has a long history stretching back over millennia and origins that are deeply rooted in Indian philosophy. So how did yoga make its way to Switzerland?

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.

Emperor Haile Selassie, God of the Rastafarians

Murielle Schlup 28.01.2022 Emperor Haile Selassie (1892-1975), who was crowned ‘King of Kings’ in Addis Ababa in 1930, was believed in Ethiopia to have been chosen by God. The Rastafarians in Jamaica even ‘recognised’ him as their Messiah and God. A look at the dual ‘careers’ of a 20th-century figure who was as remarkable as he was controversial.
Haile Selassie I in his limousine during his state visit to Bern on 25 November 1954. His headdress is decorated with a lion’s mane.

Powered by water, driven by ambition

Caroline Calame 27.02.2025 Jonas Sandoz acquired the concession to operate mills in the caves of Col-des-Roches thanks to his political acumen. It was a successful venture – until he ran into financial difficulties.

Suggest a topic

Do you know an exciting story or would you like an article on a specific topic? Write us! If possible, we will implement your suggestion.

Write us at blog@nationalmuseum.ch