Claudia Aufdermauer07.07.2026Around 1860, arsenic was widely known as a poison used in murder cases. Nevertheless, the authorities in Basel were initially oblivious to the potential dangers emanating from its use in dye production. The cantonal chemist alone recognised that the industrial use of the ‘King of Poisons’ could have unintended consequences for both people and the environment.
Claudia Aufdermauer17.06.2025Systematic hunting, changes in habitat and pollution are all contributing to otters dying out, as it says on the label describing an over 100-year-old prepared specimen on exhibit in the Naturama natural history museum in Aarau. The ‘end of the otter in Switzerland’ in 1990 is closely intertwined with the country’s economic history.
