André Perler23.05.2023Since they were founded centuries ago, place name have undergone constant change. Unsophisticated descriptions of the local landscape, or ownership, have morphed into abbreviations popular among the young. In Winterthur’s case, it has gone from ‘Uitoduro’ to ‘Winti’.
Nils Widmer16.05.2023Timekeeping is hugely important in modern sport, which is increasingly competitive, professional and international. It has made remarkable progress since its early days. A look at the history of timekeeping at the Olympic Games, and the role of the Swiss watch industry and diplomacy.
Simon Engel06.04.2023The Swiss Football Association was founded on 7 April 1895. But football actually became popular in Switzerland some time before that and can be attributed to the country’s strong international links in the 19th century.
Peter Egloff21.03.2023In his ‘Rätoromanische Chrestomathie’, unconventional Graubünden politician and cultural scholar Caspar Decurtins (1855-1916) created the most important older source text on the Romansh culture of his home canton. And did so while accomplishing a great deal more.
Kurt Messmer21.02.2023Over is over. The past is finished, set, unchangeable. History, on the other hand, is open, vivid, changeable, and thus disputable. Is there any such thing as certain knowledge? Yes – just not for ever.
Murielle Schlup16.02.2023During the Baroque and Rococo periods no self-respecting man or woman would consider themselves properly dressed without one finishing touch: their wig. Fashionable first at the French court, their popularity then spread all over Europe. Coiffed hairpieces long served as a symbol of social status for both sexes.
Julia Hübner01.02.2023It's hard to imagine now, but it actually happened in the winter of 1963. Lake Zurich froze over entirely. The authorities opened the ice on 1 February, and the last public festival on the lake began.
Menoa Stauffer13.01.2023Comics smoulder, books burn: in Aargau in 1965, mounds of so-called “trashy fiction” ended up on a fire. The campaign was called “Fight the trash", and it was intended to set the scene for further book burnings. But the scheme backfired.
