Cristina Gutbrod28.01.2025In 1898, the architect Gustav Gull (1858-1942) created designs for two cups as part of a collaboration with the goldsmith’s workshop run by Johann Karl Bossard (1846-1914) in Lucerne. That same year, the newly built Swiss National Museum in Zurich, also designed by Gull, opened its doors to the public. Gull and Bossard’s impressive networks of contacts came together in the planning and design of the museum.
Peter Egloff18.04.2024In the last-but-one series of Swiss banknotes, the thousand-franc note depicted Auguste Forel as a wise researcher turning his alert gaze on the world, as an icon of science and Helvetic national symbol. But this stylised heroic image failed to stand up to closer investigation. A story illustrating the pitfalls of the culture of commemoration.
Anna Lehninger21.08.2020About 100 years ago, Carl Zweifel designed a wooden construction kit for children. The toy became a massive bestseller, and was also a valuable educational tool.
James Blake Wiener19.06.2020The Battle of Grandson on March 2, 1476 is one of the most celebrated and decisive battles in Swiss history and signalled their emergence as an integral player in wider European affairs.
Dominik Landwehr28.02.2020The CX-52 is one of the first cipher machines produced in Switzerland by the company Crypto AG. It is a much sought-after collector’s item and symbolises the greatest espionage scandal since World War II.
Selina Stuber05.12.2018Toni Vescoli was part of Zurich’s beatnik scene in the late 1960s. The musician looks back on his early days, when long hair was still frowned upon and guitar music was the work of the devil.
Felix Graf02.08.2018The sun and lettering in the design of the resort town of St. Moritz is the oldest still-used tourism trademark in the world. The symbol and logo were created in 1932 by Zurich graphic designer Walter Herdeg.