Christoph Kummer

Christoph Kummer is a historian and freelance journalist who is interested in people and events that have been consigned to the margins of our collective memory.

Of greed and ghosts

Christoph Kummer 26.06.2025 In the early modern period, many people sought to ‘get rich quick’ by digging for treasure. But they often encountered fraudsters and spirits along the way, leading quite a few of them to end up in court.

The dream of getting rich quick is almost as old as humanity itself. Illustration by Marco Heer.

Swiss monster hunters

Christoph Kummer 06.03.2025 What do an orphan from Lucerne and a geologist from Western Switzerland have in common? A fascination with mysterious creatures. René Dahinden and François de Loys both made a name for themselves in the field of cryptozoology.

To this day, Bigfoot and the so-called De Loys Ape are central figures in cryptozoology. Illustration by Marco Heer