Michael van Orsouw11.06.2024The 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.
Denise Tonella01.02.2024Praesens-Film, founded in Zurich in 1924, is the oldest film company still in existence in Switzerland. Since the late 1920s, it has been producing films that tell a piece of Swiss cultural history and reflect the times, politics and society.
Michèle Wannaz25.01.2024An Academy Award: sign of triumph, success and recognition? Not always. In the case of "The Search" by Zurich-based Praesens-Film, the award was more a symbol of frustration and pain. It even ruined half the life of one of its recipients.
Michael van Orsouw13.06.2023Celebrated actor-director Charlie Chaplin died in 1977 and was buried in the cemetery at Corsier-sur-Vevey. But then, grave robbers dug up his body and demanded large sums of money from the family for its return. A macabre story that could have come straight from one of Chaplin's films, but did in fact happen.
Beat Kuhn23.08.2022Gilberte Montavon continued to be a unifying force in Switzerland during World War II. No longer in person now, but on the theatre stage, in bookshops and on the cinema screen.
Gabriel Heim06.01.2021In 1929, mountain film pioneer Arnold Fanck shot his global hit The White Hell of Piz Palü in southern Graubünden. The secret star of filming was the Bernina railway, a track system that could handle tough winter operation.
Christophe Vuilleumier02.10.201990 years ago, Russian director Eisenstein shot a film at La Sarraz Castle featuring an array of avant-garde luminaries. But the footage has remained lost to this day.
Mämä Sykora19.07.2019Football is more than just a sport. Football is culture, entertainment and even politics. As, for example, when Uli the Tenant played for Grasshopper Club Zurich. Or when carrots were grown in FC Baden’s stadium.
