This section contains an overview of the most relevant commemorations in Switzerland.
24 November 2020
Switzerland has no Mozart, Beethoven or Chopin. Yet in the 1920s, the country brought about a (forgotten) musical revolution. It began what would later be called the “Roaring Twenties” — an era of, by and for the avant-garde in art. The great romantic orchestras still set the tone in classical music at the time. The … Read more » “Swiss Chamber Orchestras 1920-2020”
18 October 2020
Official diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Denmark have existed since 1920. At first glance, however, their history shows little common ground. As Shakespeare already wrote, Denmark is one of the oldest monarchies in Europe. As far as is known, the Vikings never entered Swiss territory. Denmark was never part of the Roman, Merovingian, Carolingian, Burgundian … Read more » “Swiss-Danish Diplomacy and Relationship”
5 October 2020
Great Britain and Switzerland have been closely linked since Roman times. Emperor Claudius built the road over the Great St. Bernard in preparation for the Roman invasion of England in 43 A.D. The road is equivalent to today’s Gotthard tunnel and the NEAT project. Even then, Switzerland was an essential European crossroads. The Via per … Read more » “Great Britain and Switzerland, a European Friendship”
22 September 2020
July 25, 1867, is an essential but almost forgotten date in Switzerland’s modern history. On this day, the parliament in Bern decided, for the first time, to allocate federal funding for projects in the cantons. These federal subsidies covered the high costs of the Jura Water Correction Project (La Correction des eaux du Jura/Juragewässerkorrektion) in the … Read more » “The Beginning of Federal Financial Support”
2 September 2020
Ninety years ago, the first Glacier Express of the Rhätische Bahn drove from St. Moritz to Zermatt via Reichenau, Disentis, Andermatt, Gletsch, and Brig. The route has been adapted and extended several times and now passes the cantons of Graubünden, Valais, and Uri. In the early years, the tourists came from Europe. After 1950, the … Read more » “Ninety years Glacier-Express”
24 August 2020
In 1470, Helias Helye (1400-1475) published the first dated printed book on the territory of present-day Switzerland. At the age of seventy, he began his new career as a book printer in his house in Beromünster, today’s museum (Schloss-Museum). Until then, he was canon in Beromünster and priest in Neudorf. In his younger years, he … Read more » “Helias Helye en the first printed and dated book”
3 August 2020
Switzerland will be 729 years old on 1 August 2020—or not? On August 1, Switzerland celebrates the alliance between the three cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden. The document does not provide an exact date but refers to the beginning of August 1291. The first national commemoration took place in 1891. Napoleon, his Helvetic Republic (1798-1803), the Confederation of … Read more » “The Craddle of Switzerland”
18 June 2020
More than 65 years ago, René Clavel of Basel (1886-1969) conceived the idea of reconstructing a Roman house of the local urban elite in the Roman colony of Augusta Raurica, now Augst. The Clavel-Villa near the Augusta Raurica Museum In consultation with Professor Laur-Belart (1898-1972), who was responsible for the excavations at Augusta Raurica, Clavel … Read more » “The Roman House in Augusta Raurica”
10 June 2020
The Romans founded the settlement of Salodurum (literally, “water gate”) around 20 AD. The main reason was the construction of a road (and a bridge over the Aare River) between Aventicum (Avenches) and Vindonissa (Windisch). The town became a fortress with the usual Roman public and private buildings; some remnants can still be seen in the Old … Read more » “Solothurn 2 000 Years”
16 February 2020
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first flight between St. Moritz (Canton Grisons) and London. One of the initiators in 1920 was Hans Badrutt (1876-1953), owner of the Badrutt’s Palace Hotel in St. Moritz. The St. Moritz Lake (St. Moritzersee), right in front of the hotel, was also the location of the first … Read more » “Palace in the Air in St. Moritz”
