Noah Businger12.12.2024People have been shaping the landscape for centuries. Even in seemingly remote areas such as the Binntal. How much of a mark have humans left on the natural environment?
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.
Reto Bleuer05.12.2024The 19th century can rightly be described as a ‘century of emigration’ in Switzerland. More than 400,000 people left the country to build new lives elsewhere. Letters from the period offer a glimpse into their day-to-day existence as expatriates.
James Blake Wiener03.12.2024Master James of St. George (c. 1230-1309) was a prolific mason and military architect who lived during the High Middle Ages. Responsible in part for the construction and refortification of imposing castles across what is now Switzerland, France, Italy, Wales, and Scotland, James of St. George is undoubtedly the greatest mason in Swiss history.
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.
Christophe Vuilleumier26.11.2024The rise of Geneva, the home of Calvinism, owed much to the Turrettini family. Arriving there from Tuscany in the 16th century with ready money and access to an international network, they played no small part in buoying the city’s economy.
Pascale Meyer21.11.2024Ghana is the world’s largest producer of cocoa. Pre-independence, the Basel Mission was one of the players making money from the cocoa trade in the Gold Coast region. It ran an agricultural research station there from the middle of the 19th century and attempted to cultivate the cocoa plant ‒ with varying degrees of success.
Katrin Brunner19.11.2024When a Dakota C-53 made an emergency landing on the Gauli Glacier at over 3,000 meters in November 1946, it was not only a feat of piloting skill. The rescue of all twelve survivors also marked the beginning of modern aerial mountain rescue.
