With the fall of the beer cartel, Switzerland’s breweries entered a new era. The way was clear for foreign corporations, alternative business models and smaller competitors. This phenomenon reflects the history of an entire national economy.

Born in a mountain valley in Ticino, Carlo Gatti moved on to Paris and later to London. He was the first street vendor of ice cream in London, eventually earning a reputation as the uncrowned “Ice Cream King” of Victorian England.

Anna Wecker from Basel is Switzerland’s first known cookbook author. She infiltrated this male-dominated sphere in 1598.

In Roman times, major urban centres such as Vitudurum (Oberwinterthur), Aquae Helveticae (Baden) and Vindonissa (Windisch) needed to be fed. Large farming estates in the region played a major role in meeting this need.

Drinking and bathing habits, fashion preferences, dealing with death: the astonishing observations of English traveller Thomas Coryat (1577-1617) in early 17th-century Switzerland.

Salt is much more than just a seasoning. Salt is essential to life, and therefore a valuable commodity. For centuries Switzerland was dependent on salt imports. In 1836, a determined German drilling specialist and ‘salinist’ changed that for good.

The history of Switzerland comes with a big slice of ‘Wurst’. National dish or globalised cervelat: Swiss identity is all tied up with a very special sausage.

Vegan and vegetarian diets are considered healthy and sustainable. A look at the history of vegetarianism in Switzerland shows how giving up meat created a market of the future.