Barbara Basting24.01.2023Artists were among the many to draw inspiration from the opening of the Gotthard railway tunnel 140 years ago. Prominent Ticino sculptor Vincenzo Vela created a contemporaneous memorial to those lost during its construction, entitled Victims of Labour. This key work was not particularly well received at the time, however.
Katrin Brunner17.01.2023In the early days, the railways were viewed with some scepticism as a new mode of transport. This is reflected in the inexpensive makeshift stations which were only gradually replaced by prestigious buildings, and in turn the practice of station recycling.
Thomas Weibel27.09.2022The Bundeshaus in Bern, Lucerne’s Kapellbrücke bridge, Geneva’s Jet d’eau: Switzerland has a whole host of landmarks. And yet there’s one of them to which we never give a second thought, even though we see it every day: the Swiss railway station clock.
Guido Balmer13.07.2022Our cousins to the north and west boast hundreds of them: tree-lined avenues. Rows of trees are a defining feature of many French and German cities and rural landscapes. Here in Switzerland, avenues have never had the same significance. But they’ve always been here, though. One particular avenue of trees has recently been crowned Switzerland’s “Landscape of the Year 2022”.
Jean-Luc Rickenbacher17.06.2022At the dawn of the 20th century, electric vehicles were enjoying a golden age. And Switzerland’s contributions to e-mobility received worldwide attention.
Katrin Brunner16.03.2022In Roman times, major urban centres such as Vitudurum (Oberwinterthur), Aquae Helveticae (Baden) and Vindonissa (Windisch) needed to be fed. Large farming estates in the region played a major role in meeting this need.
Alexander Rechsteiner07.03.2022On 15 June 1844, a railway train ran on Swiss territory for the first time. The train didn’t go from Baden to Zurich; instead, it ran a distance of about two kilometres from the French border to the city of Basel.
Guido Balmer18.02.2022Cycling is booming, thanks to coronavirus and e-bikes. But the height of the cycling craze was in the early decades of the 20th century. Back then, the bicycle ruled the streets, and in fact in 1913 the view in the Federal Parliament was that: “The world today would not be able to manage without the bicycle.”
