11 June 2025
Switzerland does not have many resources. Coal, oil or rare metals are lacking in its soil. Instead, it has an abundance of building materials, including various types of stone, wood, ‘white energy,’ and cement and concrete ingredients. These are well-known examples. Less well known is salt, which has been known for centuries as the ‘white … Read more » “The world of Swiss White Gold and the three Swiss Salines”
21 May 2025
One musical event is not yet over when another is already on the horizon. The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Basel (May 10-17) gives way to the European Festival of Youth Choirs in Basel from May 28 to June 1. The ESC slogan was “United by Music.” The media widely covered this contest. However, the … Read more » “Douze Points for Basel and a Confederation United by Music”
19 May 2025
Not only do the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau look out over Lake Thun (Thunersee), but also twelve Romanesque churches and five castles. In addition, the Sirius observatory looks upwards into the infinite universe and its countless stars. The St. Beatus Caves will never have this view! Lake Thun owes its name to the town of … Read more » “Romanesque Churches, Castles and Suspension Bridges along Lake Thun”
4 May 2025
The Habsburgs were the longest-serving imperial dynasty in Europe until 1918. Members of the family were uninterrupted emperors of the Holy Roman Empire from 1438 (apart from Wittelsbacher Charles VII Albert (1697-1745, the emperor from 1742-1745), the Empire of Austria from 1806 and the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. Archduke Maximilian (1832-1867) … Read more » “Habsburg heritage, humanism and UNESCO World Heritage in Alsace”
23 April 2025
Arlesheim (Canton Basel-Landschaft) has been showing its monumental cathedral and palaces of the former chapter of the Diocese of Basel since 1678 and the famous Hermitage since 1785. Nothing indicated after 1913 that this village and the nearby village of Dornach (Canton Solothurn) would once again make history. Dornach had already been in the spotlight … Read more » “Rudolf Steiner, Ita Wegman, the Goetheanum, the Ita Wegman-Klinik and Anthroposophy”
17 April 2025
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) is famous for his work on the origins and structure of the Universe, from the Big Bang to black holes. He reduced the Universe to a thumb. But when asked about the coming into being of this very beginning of the Universe, he replied, “Then I stop thinking”. It is also the … Read more » “CERN, the Universe, the Visible Invisible and the World Wide Web in Meyrin”
9 April 2025
Martin Luther initiated the most significant separation of the Christian church since 1054 (the separation between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church) with his 95 theses in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. This separation was not only religious and political but also geographically inspired. Western and Central Europe were on one side, and … Read more » “A World Premiere of Religious Reforms in Zurich in 1525”
1 April 2025
Huningue is known for the Dreiländerbrücke/la Passerelle des Trois Pays, which has connected Switzerland, Germany (Weil am Rhein), and France since 2007, or more precisely Baden, Alsace, and the canton of Basel-Stadt. This further delineation is interesting because of the history of this small town on the Rhine. The first mention of Huningue was in … Read more » “Huningue, Swiss Neutrality, Alemannic Poets and the Bridge over the Rhine”
16 March 2025
The Mont Blanc massif constitutes a monument at the heart of Europe whose symbolic force is due to its size and the variety of its landscapes. The biodiversity and the natural richness of the surrounding territories reinforce that image. The Espace Mont-Blanc covers territories belonging to Savoie and Haute-Savoie in France, the Autonomous Region of … Read more » “The Trinational Mont Blanc Massif”
15 March 2025
Solothurn has been a member of the Confederation (Eidgenossenschaft) since 1481. The canton is named after the city of Solothurn. This ancient Roman city (Salodorum) was originally a Celtic settlement. After the Romans’ retreat, the area remained a transitional zone between the French and German languages of the Alemanni for a long time. After the … Read more » “Solothurn, the bishop and the Embassador”
