Noëmi Crain Merz17.04.2025In the early 20th century, Benito Mussolini caused a stir in Switzerland as a rebellious socialist. Some decades later, he became a threat to the country as a fascist dictator.
Géraldine Lysser17.12.2024Marshal Carl Gustaf Mannerheim led tiny Finland’s stand in several wars against the Goliath that was the Soviet Union, earning him considerable admiration among the Swiss.
Juri Jaquemet10.12.2024The Murten fortifications were set up in the First World War to defend Switzerland against an attack from the west by France. Trenches and bunkers were dug in the Bernese Seeland and the area around Murten. Many of these structures actually mark the border between the French and German-speaking parts of the country.
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.
Noëmi Crain Merz07.11.2024He wrote scandalous novels, masqueraded as an anti-fascist activist and spied for Mussolini. After fleeing to Switzerland, Pitigrilli’s true colours were revealed.
Ernst Ziegler24.10.2024During the Second World War, Ernst Schrämli from St. Gallen was sentenced to death for spying and executed on 10 November 1942 in a small wood in eastern Switzerland. Schrämli had relayed military secrets and information to a German agent.
Raphael Rues26.09.2024Without the help of the British and Americans, resistance against the German and fascist occupation of Ossola would have come to nothing. However, the region’s partisans had hoped for more in the way of support.