Thomas Weibel15.01.2026In the 1950s, the Swiss dreamed of having their own nuclear power plant and built a test facility in Lucens in the canton of Vaud. It proved an ill-fated project: just after becoming operational in January 1969 a fuel rod melted and exploded, bringing Switzerland to within a hair’s breadth of a disastrous outcome.
Noah Businger13.01.2026Unlike today, wars were almost constantly raging on the borders of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the 17th and 18th centuries. As well as representing the culmination of ongoing conflicts, this warfare opened up lucrative new lines of business for people like Thomas Massner.
Pascale Meyer08.01.2026From LSD and Largactil to Valium, psychotropic drugs fundamentally changed the treatment of mental disorders in the 1950s and quickly became marketing-driven products. Swiss pharmaceutical companies played a key role in this.
Barbara Basting06.01.2026The mountain peaks and cliff tops of Saxony reminded Swiss artist Adrian Zingg of his homeland. He captured them in his drawings, thus helping them on their way to fame, and coined the name by which the region is still known today: Saxon Switzerland.
Thomas Bürgisser01.01.2026In 1995, Switzerland commemorated the end of the war in 1945, and the Federal Council issued an official apology for the country’s refugee policy during that period. At the time, nobody could have anticipated that Switzerland’s role in the Second World War would feature so much in Swiss foreign policy for years to come.
Hans Egli30.12.2025The production of matches using white phosphorus brought work to the impoverished area around Frutigen in the second half of the 19th century. The region subsequently evolved to become the centre of a match manufacturing industry characterised by child labour and hazardous working conditions. The worst effect was phosphorus necrosis of the jaw, a horrible disease that eroded the jaw bones.
Cristina Gutbrod25.12.2025Gustav Gull made a double portrait of himself and his wife Lydia for the façade of the National Museum in Zurich. The reliefs were not the only architectural declarations of love made by the star Zurich architect to his wife.
Géraldine Lysser23.12.2025Often unseen, but rich in history: Christmas tree stands show how practical necessity spawned a wealth of innovation – from the wooden cross, to cast iron stands and the clamping technique.
