Danielle Berthet05.11.2026About 300,000 American military personnel enjoyed organised holiday tours in Switzerland between July 1945 and March 1949 as part of the ‘Leave Action’ programme. Lucerne was a preferred destination among the visitors.
Daniel Di Falco03.11.2026What did banking secrecy look like before it fell out of general favour? The images portrayed in advertising for Swiss banks reveal a great deal about the sector’s history, reflecting both the international rise of the financial centre and its unparalleled consolidation.
Adriano Bazzocco29.10.2026Border guard Ovidio Maggi was shot dead by Italian smugglers in late October 1945. After the Second World War, the spiral of violence at Switzerland’s southern border escalated. With fatal consequences.
Gabriel Heim01.10.2026Milkers and dairy workers from Switzerland were so in demand on German farming estates from the mid-19th century that the term ‘Schweizerei’ came to mean dairy farm, while milkers were known as ‘Schweizer’ or ‘Stallschweizer’.
Matthias Wiesmann03.09.2026“Feed your savings now or starve in old age” and similarly blunt aphorisms were printed on cards issued to Swiss schoolchildren in 1946 in an attempt to motivate them to start saving. Adults were also encouraged, by various means, to set money aside for the future.
Andrea Weidemann27.08.2026Today, if we want to transfer money or check our custody account we simply reach for our smartphone. This seemingly straightforward procedure is the product of a lengthy evolution. In just a few decades, the everyday financial activities of the Swiss have moved from the physical to the digital realm: from bank counters to a device kept in our trouser pockets.
Juliane Eberhardt16.07.2026For decades, the financial behaviour of the Swiss was based on filling their Sparkässeli. Those little metal boxes where people kept their savings even shaped society’s relationship with its banks. Today they remain as contemporary witnesses of a bygone era.
Janick Rüttimann09.07.2026Liechtenstein has evolved into an attractive location for domiciliary and fiduciary companies since the 1920s. Although politicians in Switzerland have repeatedly voiced misgivings about this, it has also been a source of profit for the Swiss financial centre. This has resulted in a close, albeit fraught relationship between the two neighbouring states.
