Roland Gröbli28.07.2026Religious differences between the traditionally Catholic cantons and those that embraced the Reformation prevented them from agreeing on a common wording for the oath of allegiance to the Old Swiss Confederacy. It was effectively 500 years ago, on 28 July 1526, when its members convened to swear their common allegiance for the last time.
Nicole Billeter23.07.2026Melancholy was everywhere in the early modern period: in letters, reports and biographies, but also in medical tracts and theological discourse. A diagnosis is speculative, but in some of the descriptions we can recognise what today is referred to as depression.
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.
James Blake Wiener14.07.2026For nearly a century, no American restaurant stood above Delmonico's in sheer elegance or culinary ambition. Founded in Manhattan in 1827 by Giovanni and Pietro Delmonico, brothers from the Swiss canton of Ticino, Delmonico’s built a legacy of innovation that remains without equal in the history of American fine dining.
Jean-Luc Rickenbacher23.06.2026The majority of worldwide goods traffic goes by sea. Although Switzerland does not have direct sea access, it is connected to global maritime trade routes via the Rhine. The Swiss Rhine ports in Basel play a key role, as around ten per cent of all Swiss imports are handled there.
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.
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.
Barbara Basting19.05.2026Composer Franz Liszt created his own image of Switzerland in his famous work ‘Années de pèlerinage’. Poems and illustrations accompanied his music.
