Author: Maarten Koning

The Römervertrag and cantonal Cooperation

On October 13, the cantons of Basel-Landschaft, Aargau, and Basel-Stadt celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Römervertrag (Roman Treaty) at the ancient Roman fort in Kaiseraugst. This agreement is considered a milestone for the protection, research, and development of Augusta Raurica and its museum.

With the ceremonial signing of a new version of the treaty, the joint commitment to the future of this cultural monument was reaffirmed. At the same time, nearly 30,000 collection objects from Basel-Stadt were transferred to the ownership of the Roman city Augusta Raurica.

Daniel Suter, director of Augusta Raurica

The cantons, along with the two other contracting parties—the Historical and Antiquarian Society of Basel and the Pro Augusta Raurica Foundation—confirmed with the revised treaty the protection, research, and public presentation of the ancient city. The treaty marks the beginning of a new, long-term intercantonal cooperation and will come into force on January 1, 2026.

BAK (Bundesamt für Kultur, Federal Ministry of Culture) director Carine Bachmann expressed her appreciation to the politicians who, 50 years ago, paved the way for a cultural heritage of national interest with great foresight and courage.

At the same time, the Historical Museum Basel is presenting 25 treasures from the Basel region and the nearby foreign areas. Among them is one of the most valuable treasures from the Augusta Raurica collection: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst.

The Roman Treaty of 1975 laid the foundation for excavations, the museum, and research to no longer rely solely on private initiatives, thus playing a key role in the development of Augusta Raurica.

For the first time, the collection, archive, excavation documentation, and research were brought together. Uniform standards were introduced, and the accumulated knowledge was made accessible to science and the public.

This created space for diverse collaborations, such as with the Basel museums, the Basel-Stadt State Archive, the University Library, the Basel-Stadt, and regional tourism organisations. The Roman Treaty is still considered a model for successful cooperation across cantonal borders.

The silver hoard of Augusta Raurica

Hopefully, this unique and relatively well-functioning national and European monument to direct democracy, federalism, the principle of subsidiarity and decentralisation will be managed just as well as Augusta Raurica.

What is gone is gone – even at the democratic and constitutional level. In the 1960s, this was just as relevant in Augusta Raurica with its Roman heritage, house and road construction, as it is today with current political issues.

And nomen est omen: the cantons also played a decisive role in Augusta Raurica. The Swiss Constitution is also clear: the people and the cantons are sovereign and form the Swiss Confederation. Political opportunism sometimes prevails, also or even in Switzerland, however.

Roman archaeo-zoology in Augusta Raurica

The Roman theater in Augusta Raurica

Emperor August in the garden of the Clavel-Villa in Augst

The Laténium and the Celtic Culture

In September 2023, an important discovery was made in Lake Neuchâtel. Near Grandson (Canton Vaud), a canoe made of oak trunks was found in the lake. It is about 2,500 years old and dates back to the Iron Age (850-100 BC). Celtic tribes lived in this region at that time.

The praam was made between 750 and 520 BC from an oak trunk about 12.30 metres long and one metre wide. This boat was mainly used for transporting goods and people or fishing. It is one of the largest of its kind found in Switzerland.

Opposite the Laténium: Mont Vully, on the left La Tène

The Helevtic oppidum on Mont Vully

The Celtic culture

In 1857, a fisherman discovered the site of pile dwellings and numerous objects from the Young Iron Age (500-100 BC) at the mouth of the river Zihl (Thielle) into the lake near La Tène.

Pile dwellings and Celtic culture and society are the subject of several (open-air) museums, research institutes and current excavations in Central Europe, especially in Germany, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, France and Switzerland. Over 100 sites are inscribed as UNESCO-World Heritage Sites.

Climate change already existed back then. The level of Lake Neuchâtel, Lake Biel and Lake Morat fluctuated over the past millennia. These lakes (today also called the Three Lakes Region/Lac-des-Trois Lacs/ Drei-Seen-Region) rose several metres after 1,000 BC, and the lake dwellings were abandoned. As they were underwater, the wood and objects were well preserved.

The Celtic culture was already known around 1860, but mainly from an earlier period. The culture stretched from Britain to what is now Ukraine. One interpretation of this European Celtic culture is the Hallstatt period (850-500 BC), named after the town of Hallstatt in Austria. The sensational find of La Tène is the eponym for the Latène culture (500-100 BC).

Auguste Bachelin (1830-1890), La Tène, 1878. Collection: Laténium

In the Three Lakes Region, the period after the Jura water correction of 1868-1891, in particular, has accelerated research. This “correction” lowered the lake levels by about 3 metres. More and more pile dwellings and objects along the lake shores came to the surface.

The La Tène finds were already estimated in 1874. The International Congress for Prehistoric Anthropology and Archaeology (Le Congrès international d’anthropologie et d’archéologie préhistoriques), founded in Neuchâtel in 1865, decided that year to choose La Tène as the name for the Celtic culture of the early Iron Age, with Hallstatt then designating the preceding period (850-500 BC).

The Dolmen, dating back around 3000 BC, was excavated in 1876 near Auvernier/Colombier, along the lake. Other dolmens have been found in Laufen (canton Basel-Landschaft) 

Excavations 1907-1917. Collection: Laténium

Laténium

At the beginning of the 20th century, excavations organised and financed by the canton of Neuchâtel and the federal government began. The Société d’histoire et d’archéologie coordinated these activities from 1907-1917 in La Tène.

La Tène 

The name Laténium comprises the words ‘La Tène’ and ‘museum’. The Laténium comprises the museum, the archaeological park, the cantonal archaeology department, and the Institute of Prehistory and Early History at the University of Neuchâtel.

The permanent exhibition also shows other periods: the Neanderthals (100 000-40 000 BC), the Magdalenian and Mesolithic (13 000-5 500 BC), the Neolithic and Bronze Age (5 500-800 BC), the Iron Age (800-15 BC), the Roman period (15 BC-476 AD) and the Early Middle Ages and Renaissance (476-1 600).

Menhir, around 3 000 BC

The 20-metre-long Gallo-Roman barge is the museum’s largest exhibit and underwater object. The full-size replica of an underwater excavation illustrates the excavation methods used. In a mini-laboratory, visitors are introduced to the conservation techniques of wet wood.

The park showcases buildings, sites, and landscapes spanning 15,000 years of local history. The many pieces on display in the museum are complemented in the park by replicas: a reconstruction of a late Bronze Age dwelling, a burial mound, a pile-dwelling a Gallo-Roman barge and a Celtic wooden bridge. There are also many original exhibits in the park (including a dolmen, a menhir, a well and a water conduit).

Reconstruction of a Celtic bridge

Reconstruction of a pile dwelling

Monumental tombs. During the Bronze and Iron Ages, tombs were constructed beneath artificially created mounds; today, these mounds remain covered in vegetation (left, reconstruction). The monument on the right is authentic: a burial site from the Middle Bronze Age (around 1500 BC). It was excavated in Colombier/Plantée de Rive in 2013.

Reconstruction of the hunt

Menhir

In 1984, a Neolithic village was found. The village consisted of six houses and many smaller buildings. It was inhabited around 3,800 BC. The new wooden posts embedded in the ground today are located precisely where the prehistoric timbers stood.

(Source and further information: Laténium; Marc-Antoine Kaeser, La Tène, A Place of Memory. At the Origins of Celtic Archaeology (lieu de mémoire. Aux origines de l’archéologie celtique), Hauterive, 2022)

One hundred years of the Treaty of Locarno and good Fatherhood

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Locarno by France and Germany in Locarno on October 16 2025. The treaty was signed in London on December 1, 1925, and entered into force.

Locarno (canton Tessin) was chosen because it was easily accessible for participants, located in neutral Switzerland, Italian-speaking (rather than German- or French-speaking), and a small town, offering a good opportunity for “spontaneous and informal” meetings with few other distractions for the participants.

Locarno, 1925. The participants in the conference hall. Image: Commune of Locarno

The governments of France and Germany had overcome their reservations to guarantee peace, stability, trade, and economic development, despite opposition at home. The hatred, fear and frustration among large sections of the population in Germany and France were still too great for a generally accepted reconciliation after the First World War (1914-1918).

Nevertheless, this treaty led to a period of economic prosperity and relative stability in the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) and France. Inflation in Germany subsided, German reparations to France (as outlined in the Treaty of Versailles, 1919) were partially revised, and the “Roaring Twenties” reached their peak in Paris and Berlin, as if the Fin de Siècle had never truly ended.

Locarno, Via della Pace

The great powers of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and America had found common interests, and Germany even joined the League of Nations in 1926. “Locarno” was a sensation at the time: it seemed possible to prevent conflicts in this way and to look forward instead of backwards. Moreover, the countries committed themselves to resolving disputes through arbitration.

The Treaty of Locarno even led to the signing of the Briand-Kellogg Pact in 1928. All signatory countries, including the United States, which was not a member of the League of Nations, committed themselves not to use force in conflicts with other countries.

The United States soon became the largest investor in the new and democratic Germany. Unemployment fell rapidly, a new middle class emerged, and extremist parties (Nazis and communists) did not yet pose a threat to democracy.

Collection: Bernisches Historisches Museum

However, the Wall Street stock market crash on October 24 and 29, 1929, turned this optimistic period into an economic and, therefore, political nightmare. Extreme left-wing and extreme right-wing parties took advantage of the (economic) turmoil, (financial) despair and disappointment among many citizens.

Confidence in the established political, economic and democratic institutions vanished in an instant, not only in Germany but also in other European countries. And citizens’ trust in democratic institutions was and is the glue that holds society together.

After all, the poison of religious, political and nationalist extremism thrives on hungry stomachs, empty bank accounts, a lack of (economic and democratic) perspective and “good fatherhood” (bonus ac diligens pater familias) from politics and government.

This still applies, even in Switzerland, which admittedly has one of the best (or less worst) constitutional, political, and democratic systems in the world, but is not immune to the erosion of this trust and the impact of international and societal developments.

Paul Troxler (1780-1866), a. 1840. Photo: Wikipedia

“Good fatherhood” is impossible to define, but one of the founding fathers of direct democracy in Switzerland aptly put it: listen to your children, in this case, the citizens. They may not always be right, but in the long term, it is precisely because of this mutual bond that the (democratic, economic) system functions best.

(Source: Exhibition ‘100 Years Treaties of Locarno‘)

Art’Rhena opens its fifth season on 11 October

Art’Rhena is a cross-border cultural centre run by the Communauté de Communes Alsace Rhin Brisach on the French side in partnership with the German town of Breisach am Rhein. It is located on the Rhine island, the meeting point of the two countries.

Opened in 2021, Art’Rhena offers a multidisciplinary programme of live performances that combine non-verbal (circus, music, dance) and spoken (theatre, puppetry, cabaret) art forms.

Half of the programme is aimed at an adult audience, while the other half is aimed at children. In addition to the various performances, school programmes, cultural education activities, and multilingual exhibitions, complete the activities.

The German-French cultural centre Art’Rhena opens its doors on Saturday, 11 October, for a fifth season with a dance performance.

(Source and further information: Art’Rhena Cultural Centre)

The Highest Mountain in the Canton of Zurich and Direct Democracy

The Schnebelhorn (1,292 m) is the highest peak in the canton of Zurich. The mountain is located in the Töss Valley.

The Schnebelhorn

The Töss, with a length of 60 kilometres, not only gives the valley its name, but also has a special characteristic that, this time, has nothing to do with climate change: it occasionally dries up completely.

De Töss

Steg

The source of the river is located in St. Gallen, near the Säntis in Appenzell, and, like many other rivers and streams, it flows into the Rhine. The first village it reaches on its way to the Rhine is Steg in the canton of Zurich.

The Säntis

At a bridge over the Töss, there is a detailed explanation about the centuries-old natural causes for the occasional absence of water in the river. However, this does not change the fact that this river has also caused floods in the past. It led to canalisation and other measures at the end of the 19th century.

Steg

Steg is a small village in the municipality of Fischenthal, but it lies at the foot of the highest mountain in the canton and even (still) has a ski area!

It is also located on the old pilgrimage route, the Via Jacobi (Jakobsweg) or the Way of St. James (also known as the Swabian Way (Schwabenweg), which runs from Constance to Einsiedeln), leading to the Fischingen Monastery, Rapperswil, and the Einsiedeln Monastery. The inn “Zum Steg” has been a resting place for pilgrims and other travellers for centuries.

Steg is also the place where, in 1532, the last bear of the Zurich Oberland was shot (the last bear in Graubünden met this fate only in 1904!).

Steg is part of the municipality of Fischenthal, the largest rural municipality in the canton of Aargau. This area, referred to as Fiskinestal in a 9th-century document, was for centuries owned by the Abbey of St. Gallen. After a short period under the Habsburgs, Zurich acquired Fischenthal in 1425.

Fischenthal also belonged to the district (Bezirk) of Uster in the new Confederation (1803–1813). Residents from Fischenthal and Steg may also have participated in the uprising in Uster in 1830/1831, which led to a liberal constitution in the canton.

In doing so, they were also pioneers of the 1848 constitution and direct democracy in the years 1874 and 1891. The Töss does not care about any of this; it dries up when nature dictates.

(Source and further information: Gemeinde Fischenthal)

Impressions from the Tösstal

    

Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois in Basel

Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois in Basel has a history dating back to the first inn, which was established in the 11th century, coinciding with the construction of the cathedral or Münster.

The town of the bishop was part of the Kingdom of Burgundy (888-1032) and, from 1032 onwards, the Holy Roman Empire. The German Emperor Heinrich II (973-1024) and the last Burgundian King Rudolf III (970-1032) visited the city on several occasions, and their large entourage required ample space for dining and lodging.

Not much is known about this first inn, not even whether its location corresponds precisely to the current position of the hotel. The hotel was first mentioned in documents in 1681: Gasthof zu den Drei Königen (Inn of the Three Kings).

However, the three kings in the vestibule were not installed until the 18th century.

During this period, the inn gradually assumed the appearance and functions of a hotel. Famous visitors, such as Napoleon, members of the Austrian imperial family, and, for example, Goethe, spent the night there. The last imperial descendant of  Habsburg even lived there for almost 15 years!

Hotel Les Trois Rois and the temporary bridge near the Mittlere Brücke in 1903. The medieval Mittlere Brücke was replaced by the new bridge in 1905. Open-air exhibition at the Mittlere Brücke. Private Collection. Photo: TES  

The French Revolution and occupation did not go unnoticed by the hotel either, and the French name Gasthaus Aux Trois Magots originates from these days. After all, kings were not done in these revolutionary days until Napoleon became emperor and his family members kings.

Theodor Herzl on the balcony of Les Trois Rois in Basel. The old wooden Mittlere Brücke bridge is still visible. Photo: Wikipedia.

The iconic photograph of Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) was taken from the balcony of this hotel in 1901. The name also changed to Hotel Drei Könige am Rhein, but it is now known as Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois again.

The Grand Hotel already has two excellent restaurants, the Brasserie and the three-star restaurant Cheval Blanc. However, on 12 September, the new restaurant Banks opened its doors at the Grand Hotel. Herzog de Meuron designed the new interior in the former ballroom and bank building.

With this new establishment, the Grand Hotel is opening its doors to the people of Basel with affordable and original menus. The interior is also a blend of the classic style of the Grand Hotel and the colourful, yet stylish, image of the Banks restaurant.

Restaurant Banks, situated in the old ballroom and bank building.

Within the concept of the Grand Hotel, the new restaurant combines modernity, cosiness and liveliness. This is also reflected in the Asian-European composite menu, which features variations from other continents, served under the concept of sharing.

(Source and further information: Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois)

Impressions from Les Trois Rois 

Restaurant Banks

 

Les Fleurs des Rois

The Library

The smoking room and its special heating system, designed by Herzog de Meuron

Bilingual Biel/Bienne

After the Celtic and Roman times, Seeland was situated at the edge of the (first) Burgundian Kingdom (443-534). The Three Lakes region (the lakes of Biel/ Bienne, Morat/Murten and Neuenburg/ Neuchâtel) was still populated by Gallo-Roman people. The German-speaking Alemanni migrated to this region in the 5th and 6th centuries. 

However, it was not until the 8th century that the Germanic culture and language became dominant without completely replacing the Gallo-Roman and Patois dialects. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the prince-bishops of Basel extended their rule in the Jura; in doing so, the counts of Neuchâtel and Neuchâtel-Nidau became their adversaries.

In the 12th and early 13th centuries, their sphere of influence extended from the lakes and the Jura heights to Grenchen and Büren an der Aare, including Nidau Castle. Between 1225 and 1230, the Bishop of Basel Heinrich II. Von Thun founded the town of Biel (and built the Mittlere Brücke in Basel). In 1275, King Rudolph of Habsburg (1218-1291) granted the city of Biel its rights.

Biel concluded the “eternal alliance” with Bern in 1352, and the town became an ally of the Confederation. The city obtained the ‘zugewandter Ort’ status but remained deprived of a Confederation treaty. The Reformation took place in 1528.

The French Revolution created a new set of circumstances. On 6 February 1798, French troops entered the city. Biel was incorporated into France as the “Canton de Bienne”. The canton initially belonged to the Département du Mont-Terrible, and then from 1800 to 1813, to the Département du Haut-Rhin.

Unknown artist. Biel around 1830.

After Napoleon’s final defeat, the hope for a separate canton was revived. However, Biel, together with most of the territory of the former Prince-Bishopric of Basel, was allocated to the canton of Bern.

The bilingual town houses the Institute of Bilinguism today (Forum du bilinquisme/Forum für die Zweisprachigkeit, www.zweisprachigkeit.ch).

(Source: Dubler, Anne-Marie; Kästli, Tobias: Biel, in Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS). 

Neues Museum Biel/Nouveau Musée Bienne

Biel Bözingen (Bienne Boujean in French) is the largest district of Biel/Bienne and was an independent municipality until 1917

A Special Day for the Verein Elsass-Freunde Basel in Ungersheim

Alsace, Baden, and the Basel and Northwestern Switzerland region have maintained close economic, social, cultural, and political ties for centuries. This history has been covered in various previous articles.

Despite national borders, various cross-border organisations and projects have emerged since 1945. It is no exaggeration to say that this Upper Rhine region even serves as a model for pragmatic European cooperation.

Remarkably, the Basel region has played a pioneering role in the emergence of this cooperation. One of these organisations is the cultural association Les Amis de l’Alsace Bâle, founded 40 years ago in Ungersheim

Ungersheim

The occasion was symbolic of the common heritage: to make the Écomusée d’Alsace, which was opened in 1984, known in Basel and its surroundings. The initiator of the Écomusée d’Alsace, architect Mard Grodwohl, and his colleague, Basel architect Jürg-Peter Lienhard, took the initiative. The cultural association Elsass-Freunde Basel/l’Association culturelle Les Amis de l’Alsace Bâle was founded on April 25, 1985, in Ungersheim, near the Écomusée.

For this reason, forty years later, residents from Basel and Alsace still speak the local German-Alemannic dialect in Ungersheim! The flourishing association symbolises not only centuries-old connections but, above all, the future: cooperation and exchange at the regional level.

To confirm this friendship and connection, Vivienne Gaskell, president of the association, and Jean-Claude Mensch, mayor of Ungersheim, planted a linden tree on the grounds of the “Maison des Natures et Cultures” in Ungersheim. Planting trees, especially at this time, is looking to the future, and the heart-shaped leaf of the linden corresponds to the association’s logo.

The event at the “Maison des Natures et Cultures” was already a journey of discovery through nature, organic farming, and the local population’s commitment. The Écomusée now enjoys a reputation that extends far beyond Basel. The association now also plays a role in promoting the “Maison des Natures et Cultures,” which is special in many ways.

La Maison des Natures et Cultures in Ungersheim

The day ended in style: with a concert by the Orchestre d’harmonie Vogésia under the direction of Valerie Seiler. Not only the Basel March by Willy Haag, Alsatian Accents by Benoît Bilger, Europe by Santana, and Happy Birthday to You by Stevie Wonder, but even an Alsatian Alphorn Melancholy by Lothar Pelz was performed, among other arrangements.

The Alphorn 

Valerie Seiler was born in 1969 in Mulhouse and has a close musical and artistic connection to this tri-country region, having even completed her studies in orchestral conducting in Basel. Perhaps the centuries-old status of ally/Zugewandter Ort (until 1798) of the Confederation still plays an unconscious role.

In any case, the association and other regional projects are growing and thriving, just as the linden tree will continue to do for a long time.

Based on images by Peter Gaymann 

(Source and additional information: Kulturverein Elsass-Freunde Basel/ l’Association culturelle Les Amis de l’Alsace Bâle)

Impressions from Ungersheim

Impressions from la Maison des Natures et Cultures

   

The Swiss Castles Day Focuses on Craftmanship

28 castles from twelve cantons and three language communities organise on Sunday, October 5th, a day around the theme of craftsmanship during the annual Journée des Châteaux Suisses. From medieval coin minting to glassblowing and 3D printing: craftsmen from the past and present showcase their skills in historical settings.

Each castle offers a program related to its history and local customs. Each period has produced specific professions, a journey through time from the Middle Ages to the 21st century and a great variety of craftsmen and objects.

Contemporary crafts are also highlighted. In one castle, a robot is even at work, while in another, the connections between wood carving and 3D printing are explained.

(Source and further information: Die Schweizer Schlosser/ Les Châteaux Suisses)

Multilingualism, the Cantons, the Swiss Constitution and the Confoederatio Helvetica

As part of the 7th ‘Multilingualism Day’ (Tag der Mehrsprachigkeit/Journée du plurilinguisme) in the Federal Parliament, National Councillor Martin Candinas (chairman of the parliamentary groups ‘Plurilinguism CH’ and ‘Lingua e cultura rumantscha’), National Council members Anna Giacometti and Greta Gysin (co-chairs of the parliamentary group ‘ITALIANITÀ’), as well as National Council member Laurent Wehrli (chair of Helvetia Latina) looked back on the editions since 2019 during the press conference on 24 September. They outlined the current challenges and opportunities for Swiss multilingualism.

The German-speaking canton of Basel-Stadt and the French-speaking canton of Jura on 27 July 2019, Fête des Vignerons, in Vevey.

The edition in the Federal Parliament took place on Thursday, 25 September. Members of Parliament spoke in a language other than their own, with a special focus on the minority languages Italian and Romansh.

During the press conference, those present discussed language education and other key issues, including the popular initiative “200 francs is enough! (SRG initiative in connection with the annual compulsory listening and viewing licence fee for the  Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft SRG)”, the federal government’s language promotion policy and the opportunities and risks of new technologies and artificial intelligence.

From left to right: Greta Gysin, Anna Giacometti, Laurent Wehrli, and Martin Candinas. Foto: Forum Helveticum 

However, the presentations focused on language teaching in primary and secondary schools. Various cantonal initiatives aim to postpone teaching in one of the national languages or reduce the number of teaching hours and introduce more hours for English.

Although this falls under cantonal autonomy, in the long term, it threatens the cohesion, federal principle, multicultural society, and identity of multilingual Switzerland. The cantons also bear responsibility in this regard, as reflected in various passages of the federal constitution.

Bern, Bundeshaus, the 26 cantons

The primary aim here is not to educate children to be polyglots in four languages (German, French, Italian and Romansh), but to inspire an understanding and awareness of other languages in the country. And “what is learned young is done old”.

Unfortunately, it has also become clear that members of parliament do not always set the right example. In any case, a member of the National Council noted that translations may soon be needed in the Council of States (which has so far been without simultaneous translation).

Of course, it is neither realistic nor possible to elevate Italian or even the small minority language Romansh to the status of a common language in German- and French-speaking Switzerland. However, understanding and awareness of these languages are essential for mutual communication and cohesion, both in parliament, in administration and government, and in everyday life.

Brigels/Breil

After all, languages are more than just a means of communication; they are also an integral part of the Swiss constitution, federation, culture and identity, and a treasure, even a unique heritage, in the case of Romansh.

In addition, the country has a large number of Italian immigrants, and Romansh also facilitates the integration of Portuguese immigrants in Graubünden, for example. They learn Romansh without any problems (regardless of the dialect).

In his book ‘La Suisse plurilingue se délingue’ (Neuchâtel, 2010), José Ribeaud already referred to Switzerland’s unique quadrilingualism. He also emphasised the fundamental importance of education, exchange and the media.

Quadrilingual Switzerland, or the country’s fifth language

A member of the National Council summed it up (ironically) succinctly at the press conference: ‘Ländersprachen First’. In short, it is not only the federal government that faces financial and organisational challenges, but also the cantons and municipalities, education, the media and, last but not least, private initiatives, citizens and civil society.

After a plea for sufficient financial resources for the SRG and private and public media, digital media, artificial intelligence and their opportunities were also discussed, including in relation to translations and accessibility.

Conclusion

These two days were entirely devoted to one of Switzerland’s unique characteristics and will continue in 2026 with various activities and events.

In fact, the country’s multilingualism is under pressure. In the trilingual canton of Graubünden, or in bilingual cantons, the development may not be as concerning as in Italian-, German-, or French-speaking cantons. But this is also an issue in these language areas, for example, the French language in Graubünden.

However, the teaching and use of Italian and/or French in German-speaking cantons and, conversely, German in Italian- and French-speaking cantons are cause for concern and attention.

Latin has also united the country in the Confoederatio Helvetica, rather than Svizra, Svizzera, die Schweiz, and la Suisse.

Perhaps Romansh (Rumantsch grischun), as an organically developed version of Esperanto, would be an idea for the country? It is also a beautiful and not too complicated language with many German, French and Italian words.

Finally, an addition that was not part of the contributions, discussions and conversations of these days, but solely reflects the opinion of the Swiss Spectator, which nevertheless fits into the constitutional context.

Bern, Bundeshaus

Not only do the cantons have a responsibility towards the federation, but the federation also has a responsibility towards the cantons, namely, about the (new) institutional agreement with the European Union.

This agreement not only affects the federal and subsidiarity-oriented principle of the (successful) Swiss model, but also the legislative, executive and judicial powers and even direct democracy and sovereignty!

Suppose the federal government wants to safeguard the plurilingual character through new constitutional laws for good reasons. In that case, it must also apply the existing constitution. It may not exclude the cantons based on political opportunism, dogmatic explanations, and interpretations without taking into account the purpose of a centuries-old legal text (in particular, Art. 140 a and b).

(Source and further information: Forum Helveticum; Lia Rumantscha)