This section contains an overview of the most relevant commemorations in Switzerland.
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”
9 January 2020
The ancient Roman town of Arae Flaviae, present-day Rottweil, has had an alliance with the Eidgenossenschaft of thirteen Orte (or cantons) since 1519. The town already had the status of Angewandter Ort since 1467. Twelve of the thirteen Orte ratified the eternal alliance (ewiger Bund) with Rottweil in 1519: Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug, … Read more » “The Eternal Alliance between Rottweil and the Swiss Confederation”
16 June 2019
The unique grid planning of Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds (canton Neuchâtel) emerged in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and was based on the watch-making industry. Both cities were destroyed by fires (in 1794 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, 1833 and 1844 in Le Locle). Their reconstruction was based on a consensus of private and public interests, … Read more » “Watch-making and City-planning in Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds”
6 May 2019
The Lia Rumantscha (Romansh Organisation) was founded in Chur in 1919 as an umbrella organisation of Romansh associations in Graubünden (Grisons). The Lia Rumantscha created the Rumantsch Grischun. This language is based on three Romansh idioms (Sursilvan, Vallader and Surmiran). (further information: www. liarumantscha.ch).
26 February 2019
The Panorama of Thun (1809) by Marquard Wocher (1760-1830) is the oldest surviving panorama in the world, dating back 210 years. No more than 21 other panoramas made before 1900 survived, four of which can be seen in Switzerland: Einsiedeln (the crucifixion of Christ), Murten (the battle of Murten 1476), Lucerne (the flight of the … Read more » “The Panorama of Thun and other Swiss Panoramas”
31 January 2019
Available in German and Dutch.
29 January 2019
Zurich commemorates the Reformation. The Association «500 Jahre Zürcher Reformation” (500 Jahre Zürcher Reformation) coordinates and supports projects to raise awareness of its significance. The House of Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575), opposite the Grossmünster The Association focuses on the (international) relevance, repercussions, and political and social influences in Zurich, the (old) Confederation, and Europe. (Source and … Read more » “The Reformation, the Grossmünster und the Fraumünster in Zurich”
19 September 2018
The first recorded session of Dada took place on 5 February 1916 at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, featuring Hugo Ball, Emmy Hennings, Marcel Janco, Tristan Tzara, and Jean Arp. Dada was a central movement in 20th-century art. Its spirit developed in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Zurich, a city of many artists, during the First … Read more » “Dada and Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich 1916-2016”
