Reto Bleuer05.12.2024The 19th century can rightly be described as a ‘century of emigration’ in Switzerland. More than 400,000 people left the country to build new lives elsewhere. Letters from the period offer a glimpse into their day-to-day existence as expatriates.
Kurt Messmer28.11.2024Located half-way between Freiburg and Colmar, the German town of Breisach (in the state of Baden-Württemberg) looms high above the Rhine, dominating the skyline. The town’s strategic location is inextricably linked to the chequered history of this key region of Europe.
Christophe Vuilleumier26.11.2024The rise of Geneva, the home of Calvinism, owed much to the Turrettini family. Arriving there from Tuscany in the 16th century with ready money and access to an international network, they played no small part in buoying the city’s economy.
Pascale Meyer21.11.2024Ghana is the world’s largest producer of cocoa. Pre-independence, the Basel Mission was one of the players making money from the cocoa trade in the Gold Coast region. It ran an agricultural research station there from the middle of the 19th century and attempted to cultivate the cocoa plant ‒ with varying degrees of success.
Maximilian Spitz14.11.2024Hans Joachim Züblin from eastern Switzerland caused a furore in 18th century America. As minister John Zubly, he saw parallels between the Swiss Confederates and the rebels fighting against the British. He later changed sides, albeit with an unchanged outlook.
Michael van Orsouw12.11.2024Father Athanasius Tschopp (1803–1882) was a monk in Einsiedeln, and something of a science whizz. Besides his daily monastic duties, he always found the time to make pioneering discoveries – one of his many accomplishments was inventing the precursor to the fax machine.
Patrik Süess04.11.2024The murder in 1835 of German student and spy Ludwig Lessing in Zurich uncovered a network of espionage and political activism among German exiles in Switzerland. His death increased international pressure on Switzerland to adopt a hard line against revolutionaries seeking refuge on Swiss soil.
Katrin Brunner31.10.2024Through his sometimes unconventional methods, Michael Schüppach made a name for himself as a barber-surgeon well beyond the Emmental region.
