Simon Engel11.06.2026Throughout history, rulers have used sport as a stage to present themselves and their ideals in a certain light. The practice began in Roman amphitheatres and continues to this day. Even in Switzerland.
Adrian Baschung09.06.2026The arms factory Waffenfabrik Solothurn AG not only found itself on the Allies’ blacklist after the Second World War, it was also embroiled in a lengthy liquidation process. And what would happen to the arms stored there? A tempting offer came unexpectedly from Hollywood in 1951.
Marc Ribeli04.06.2026The Interrail pass, which was launched in 1972, allowed young people to travel by train around Europe for one whole month for the price of CHF 275. Summer after summer, it inspired tens of thousands of Swiss youngsters to travel across the continent. For many, this was also their first ever independent trip abroad.
Kathrin Utz Tremp02.06.2026The diary kept by Fribourg state archivist Tobie de Raemy during the early years of the First World War provides a unique insight into the tensions that existed between German- and French-speaking Switzerland at that time. A prime example of this is the riots that took place at Fribourg station when trains travelled through carrying the injured from Germany and France.
Noëmi Crain Merz28.05.2026Two Italian anti-fascists scattered leaflets over Milan in the summer of 1930. They had taken off in a small propeller aircraft from Ticino where the pilot returned to make a crash landing shortly afterwards. This audacious escapade placed neutral Switzerland in a political dilemma.
Thomas Weibel26.05.2026Walter Steiner from Winterthur invented the Stewi in 1947. What started out as a folding rotary clothes line was to become a design classic that graced Swiss gardens for decades.
Reto Bleuer21.05.2026The slate mines around Frutigen provided the material for millions of slate boards used by schoolchildren. Thanks to the hard work of the miners, the product found its way from the remote mines to classrooms in Europe and further afield.
Bettina Kurz13.05.2026Instances of kidney disease spiked in the Jura mountains during the 1960s. This was the legacy of the local watchmakers’ decades-long penchant for painkillers.
