Andrej Abplanalp10.07.2025Guillaume Henri Dufour was a humane military general and an innovative cartographer. But he was also a mobility pioneer, a talented engineer and a reluctant politician.
Manuel Walser30.06.2025Photographer Eric Bachmann (1940-2019) shaped the perception of many events in recent Swiss history through his pictures and themes. One of his standout projects was his coverage of the 1968 Globus riots in Zurich and the unique way it combined informative value with aesthetic quality.
Christophe Vuilleumier24.06.2025Genevan lawyer Théodore Aubert was the driving force behind the International Anticommunist Entente. The organisation was based in the city in western Switzerland and its influence extended into the highest political circles.
Michael van Orsouw13.06.2025Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (1808–1873) grew up in Salenstein in the canton of Thurgau, which is why he spoke the local Swiss German dialect. Although he was French, the people of Thurgau awarded him honorary citizenship. When Switzerland refused to expel him, it almost resulted in war with France.
Michael van Orsouw11.06.2025Louis-Philippe (1773–1850), Duke of Orléans and the man who would eventually become King of the French, spent some time in Switzerland after fleeing the turmoil that followed the French Revolution. He lived in the cantons of Zurich, Zug, Aargau and Graubünden – and his story continues to inspire Swiss novelists to this day.
Alice Hertzog22.05.2025Looted from Benin in 1897, a 400- to 500-year-old figurine of a headless horseman found its way to Switzerland through the collector Han Coray. When he was declared bankrupt, the University of Zurich acquired the statuette and attempted to reunite the rider with his missing head. What at first sight looked like a good fit proved to be deceptive.
Tomás Bartoletti20.05.2025In 1858, Swiss naturalist and diplomat Johann Jakob von Tschudi illegitimately appropriated a Pucara-style figure from the sacred place of Tiwanaku. Some 150 years later, the sculpture was returned to Bolivia, a significant event that reflects Switzerland's approach to its colonial legacy.
Thomas Quinn Marabello06.05.2025In May 1923, Maurice Conradi shot dead a Soviet diplomat in Lausanne. The act itself and the subsequent acquittal of the murderer led to a major diplomatic dust-up.
