Beatriz Chadour-Sampson01.12.2022It's amazing what a finger ring can tell you. For example, the life story of Josiah Wedgwood, who elevated pottery to an art form in the 18th century and did not shy away from industrialisation.
Andrej Abplanalp28.11.2022Maestro Martino left his Ticino mountain village, and became the first celebrity chef in history. He built his reputation in the kitchens of the powerful and rich in the 15th century, and is one of the co-founders of Italian cuisine!
Heike Bazak24.11.2022Switzerland’s last printed telephone directories were issued in 2022. What started in Zurich in 1880 now faces the final curtain. A look back.
James Blake Wiener22.11.2022The Walsers migrated outwards to settle and tame uncultivated pastures in the harsh high altitudes of the Alps between c. 1150-1450. This migration represents one of the last great movements of peoples during the Middle Ages, and the legacy of Walser resourcefulness still looms large in Swiss culture.
Mämä Sykora18.11.2022Little Switzerland had big dreams: our nation put in a bid to host the 1998 Football World Cup. It started with plans for gigantic stadiums, and ended with makeshift arrangements on village squares – and huge embarrassment.
Adrian Baschung14.11.2022Today allotment gardens bloom and flourish there, but in November 1847 the thunder of cannonfire filled the air. The story of an almost forgotten theatre of war on Fribourg’s doorstep.
James Blake Wiener10.11.2022On 13 November 1475, the Valaisans and their Confederate allies defeated the powerful army of Savoy at the gates of Sion. Their victory in the now little-known «Battle on the Planta» was of great importance for the Confederation and decisive for its successes in the Burgundian Wars.
Thomas Weibel08.11.2022Wilhelm Tell’s crossbow is, so to speak, the national weapon of Switzerland. In actual fact the weapon has its origins in ancient China, and although superior to the bow the crossbow didn’t have the best reputation.
