On 18 October 1940 in Sarnen, the last death sentence under civil law in Switzerland was carried out. Although Hans Vollenweider had killed three people, he was convicted of only one murder.
The biography of Johann Jakob Meyer from Zurich reads like an adventure novel: womaniser, confidence trickster, and up to his eyeballs in debt. How could such a man become a Greek hero?
In 1856, the Neuchâtel deal brought the fledgling Swiss nation to the brink of war with Prussia. The reason for this was the peculiar position of the Canton of Neuchâtel.
Before 1850, people in Switzerland used to pay with fat men, horses or cornutos. The Swiss franc has only been the single national currency since 1850. A peek into the wallets of days gone by.
On 9 August 1924, the church at Innerthal was blown up. Then the floodwaters came. The reason for this was the growing demand for electricity in Switzerland and, as a result, the construction of a reservoir.
With its censorious satirical style, the Nebelspalter made a name for itself early on. Carl Böckli’s caricatures were particularly provocative, and in 1933 his work was banned in Nazi Germany.
In 1940, General Guisan stood on the battlefield and called for resistance. Meanwhile, French internees wanted to sing the Marseillaise. Yet again, women were responsible for their welfare. ‘Allons les femmes de la patrie.’
In the 19th century some Swiss villages provided sponsorship to enable poorer members of their community to emigrate, to stave off financial ruin for the village. An example from the Canton of Aargau shows that this emigration wasn’t always entirely voluntary.
