Local history in Switzerland.
18 June 2025
In the predominantly French-speaking city of Sierre (Siders in German, canton of Valais/Wallis), traces of various civilisations dating back to prehistoric times are still visible: hunters, the first farmers, the Ligurians, the Celts, the Romans, the Alemanni, the Franks, Christianity, the Holy Roman Empire, and then the Republic of the Seven Zehnden, and in 1815, … Read more » “Sierre, Muzot and Rainer Maria Rilke”
10 June 2025
The village and municipality of Bellwald (including the hamlets of Ried, Eggen, Bodmen, and Fürgangen) is the highest in the region of Goms (Conches in French, canton of Valais) at an altitude of 1. 560 m. The Alemanni immigrated to this region in the 8th and 9th centuries and cultivated the land. They settled on … Read more » “Bellwald, Ernen, the bishop, the Binn Valley and the Suspension Bridge”
20 May 2025
Almost every village and town in Switzerland harbours cultural and historical surprises. Thun (canton of Bern) is no exception. The city not only gives its name to Lake Thun (Thunersee) but is also the subject of one of the best-preserved panoramic paintings in the world. In Switzerland, three other panoramas can be seen in Einsiedeln, … Read more » “Thun, Brahms, Thun-Panorama and the Middle Bridge in Basel”
11 May 2025
Not much is known about the habitation of the area of the city of Neuchâtel until the year thousand. The first counts of Neuchâtel date back to the ‘second’ Kingdom of Burgundy (888-1032). The last King, Rudolf III (970-1032), built a castle on the rock—the beginning of today’s Neuchâtel. In the years 1185-1190 followed the … Read more » “The princely City and the canton of Neuchâtel”
23 April 2025
Zofingen (canton Aargau) was founded in 1201 by the Counts of Frohburg. However, centuries before, the town was already a relatively large Roman settlement. The remains of a bathhouse, a villa (Gutshof), and other finds indicate this. Model and location of the Roman and medieval bathing complex The place was on the trade route from … Read more » “Zofingen: from Helvetian, Roman, Frohburger, Habsburger, Berner to Swiss citizens from Aargau”
15 April 2025
Have you heard of Cerniat? Yet this village in the municipality of Val-de-Charmey (canton of Freiburg) is the seat of Switzerland’s only Chartreuse. The Chartreuse de la Valsainte (le val de tous les saints) was founded in 1924 by Girard de Corbières, Seigneur of the Corbières. Freiburg acquired the Seigneurie in 1553. Apart from the … Read more » “Charmey, Cerniat and Broc, small villages with a great past and present”
16 March 2025
Available in French, Dutch and German
25 February 2025
The prince-bishopric (Furstbistum) of Basel (not to be confused with the diocese (religious power) of the bishopric stretched over areas in present-day France, Switzerland and Germany from the year 1,000 until the French invasion in 1792. It was one of the largest and most powerful bishoprics north of the Alps. Not only the grandeur of … Read more » “The Bishop of Basel in Istein and Schliengen”
18 January 2025
Interlaken means between the lakes, the Brienzersee and the Thunersee. This is well known. Much less known, however, is its namesake: the monastery ‘Inter lacus’. In the 14th century, the double monastery (Doppelkloster) had a men’s and a women’s section, with 300 nuns and 40 monks. Unterseen on the right and the Spielmatte, 18th century. … Read more » “Interlaken, Inter lacus Monastery, Unterseen and the virgin”
18 December 2024
Centuries before and after the beginning of the Roman occupation (15-13 BC), a trade route already ran from the port of Morges-St.-Sulpice (on Lake Geneva) through the Wangental to Oberer Hauenstein. This road through the Wangental and today’s Oberwangen (Canton Bern) was an important transport artery. Various manor houses existed in Roman times. The Burgundians, … Read more » “Oberwangen, small village, interesting history”
