Patrik Süess26.03.2026A healer from Worb in Bern attracted a mass following during the 1840s. However, there was controversy surrounding the methods employed by ‘Längmatthansli’ as he was known and some of his patients even died after being treated by him.
Patrik Süess10.02.2026In 1853 the hunt was on for a man who killed two women in the Zurich area. He had strangled them. The criminal investigation was a major test for Zurich’s fledgling police force, the "Zürcher Polizeikorps".
Patrik Süess17.10.2025In October 1878, a mother murdered her ten-year-old daughter in Fribourg. The case of Henriette Ruchat-Berger shook the whole of Switzerland.
Adi Kälin23.09.2025In 1948, a former luxury hotel on Mount Rigi was bought at auction by a garage owner from Zurich. Ten days later, it burned to the ground. The subsequent trial for arson and insurance fraud captivated the nation – not least because a clairvoyant played a key role in the investigations.
Christoph Kummer26.06.2025In the early modern period, many people sought to ‘get rich quick’ by digging for treasure. But they often encountered fraudsters and spirits along the way, leading quite a few of them to end up in court.
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.
Patrik Süess04.11.2024The murder in 1835 of German student and spy Ludwig Lessing in Zurich uncovered a network of espionage and political activism among German exiles in Switzerland. His death increased international pressure on Switzerland to adopt a hard line against revolutionaries seeking refuge on Swiss soil.
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.
