History

Compelling stories about the past that help explain the present – with a focus on stories that link Switzerland to the world and the questions the world has about Switzerland.

The Swiss woman who fled the Nazis and changed Brazilian photojournalism

Hildegard Rosenthal working on her photo enlarger, next to a tray of coffee, in 1942

This content was published on Sep 9, 2025 A pioneer of photojournalism, Hildegard Rosenthal’s work reveals a São Paulo in transformation – and a legacy that continues to inspire.

Personal belongings of the accident victims are retrieved during rescue work on the destroyed hut camp of the Mattmark reservoir building site in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland

Was the worst Swiss disaster an ‘unforeseeable event’?

This content was published on Aug 29, 2025 Sixty years after the Mattmark tragedy, the survivors’ memories persist. So do the shadows of a trial in which all of the accused were acquitted, amid political and economic pressure.

Tourists on the Swiss Rigi mountain, shown on a postcard from 1910.

Visiting the Rigi used to make people ill – why?

This content was published on Aug 24, 2025 Around a century ago, visitors to the famous Rigi mountain regularly complained of diarrhoea and vomiting. Was it mountain sickness – or something more?

Swiss director Simon Edelstein’s triumphant return to Locarno, 50 years on

This content was published on Aug 16, 2025 This year the Locarno Film Festival paid homage to the influential Swiss director Simon Edelstein.

When a US bomber crashed into Max Huber’s Zurich castle

This content was published on Aug 10, 2025 In July, 1944, a stricken American bomber crashed into a canton Zurich castle belonging to a notable Swiss figure – Red Cross president Max Huber.

Jackie Chan will receive a honour Pardo prize for his career at Locarno. The festival will screen some early Jackie Chan films, like "Project A" (1983), pictured above with Chan in the center.

How the Locarno Film Festival brought Chinese films to the West

This content was published on Aug 7, 2025 Over the past 75 years, some pivotal Chinese films and filmmakers have had their first encounter with international critics at Locarno.

The Toblerone Trail: a unique walk through Swiss history and nature

This content was published on Aug 2, 2025 The 18km trail is a reminder of a key part of Switzerland’s war-time heritage. It’s also just a wonderful hike.

How a Swiss diplomat experienced the end of WWII in Japan

This content was published on Aug 2, 2025 Eighty years ago, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, precipitating the end of the Second World War. Camille Gorgé captured the moment in his memoirs.

August 1: how Switzerland celebrates its birthday

This content was published on Jul 31, 2025 On August 1 each year, the country celebrates itself with bonfires, barbecues, speeches, and – the not always welcome – fireworks displays.

On the trail with two Swiss monster hunters

This content was published on Jul 27, 2025 What do an orphan from Lucerne and a geologist from Western Switzerland have in common? A fascination with mysterious creatures – and the field of cryptozoology.

How Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne honed their craft in Zurich

This content was published on Jul 24, 2025 In 1969, Black Sabbath spent six weeks in Zurich – a formative time for the young band, who fine-tuned their style in marathon sessions.

The historic façade of the Théâtre du Jorat.

The Théâtre du Jorat, Switzerland’s ‘sublime barn’

This content was published on Jul 19, 2025 The Théâtre du Jorat has an identity that is unique in Switzerland. A look at its extraordinary history.

Scene of "Rapt" (1934), the first Swiss avantgarde film, directed by exiled Estonian author Dimitri Kirsanoff.

Love letters and technology help restore pivotal Swiss film from ashes

This content was published on Jul 15, 2025 “Rapt”, shot in 1934 by an Estonian who fled the Bolshevik Revolution, has won a new lease of life after meticulous restoration.

John Zubly merged religion with politics and compared parts of Swiss history to the American resistance against Great Britain.

The American Revolutionary War through the eyes of a Swiss immigrant

This content was published on Jul 13, 2025 The Swiss National Museum looks back at the story of the Swiss pastor John Zubly, a key figure in American independence.

Delegates inside the meeting hall in Locarno, 1925

Forgotten Swiss peace pact has lessons for Europe on ending bloodshed

This content was published on Jul 9, 2025 The Locarno Pact, negotiated in Switzerland 100 years ago, still reverberates today as Europe once again deals with war and US isolationism.

Locarno City Archives, Rodolfo Huber, Locarno Pact centenary

How Locarno became the ‘city of peace’

This content was published on Jul 9, 2025 The Swiss city of Locarno rose to diplomatic fame in 1925 when a set of post-war treaties were negotiated there, leaving behind an enduring legacy of peace and tolerance.

King Albert I enjoyed climbing in the Swiss Alps, where he went almost every year. The picture was coloured using AI by the National Museum.

King Albert I: the mountaineering monarch

This content was published on Jul 6, 2025 The Swiss National Museum looks back at the tragic story of Albert I of Belgium, the mountaineering king who performed some of his exploits in Switzerland.

The Zytglogge, the mechanical heart of the city of Bern

This content was published on Jul 5, 2025 The Zytglogge in Bern has one of the very few astronomical clocks in Europe that still works and is fully mechanical.

Mennonite movement turns 500 in Zurich, where it all began

This content was published on Jun 28, 2025 On its 500th anniversary, the worldwide Mennonite movement remembers its Swiss roots.

Resting at the summer palace in the forbidden city of Beijing. Max Huber on the left.

Around the world with a young Swiss explorer in 1900

This content was published on Jun 7, 2025 Long before he became president of the Red Cross, Zurich-born Max Huber travelled the world for two years documenting every step of his adventure.

Children play at a traveller site in Nidau, near Biel, 1954.

How Switzerland, Scotland and Norway seized children from itinerant families

This content was published on May 15, 2025 In the 20th century, Yenish children in Switzerland were placed in institutions as part of a state-backed effort to destroy their way of life. Similar practices existed in Norway and Scotland.

It's all on TV (Untitled, 2023): Lázaro Antonio Martínez Duran uses drawings and collages to communicate beyond his intellectual deficiency.

Two Art Brut exhibitions 40 years apart expose the state of the arts in Cuba

This content was published on May 3, 2025 Isolated in an isolated island, Cuban outcast artists have been celebrated in Lausanne’s Art Brut museum, which revisited and revamped an exhibition from 1983.

swiss parliament building surrounded by mist

‘One for all, all for one’ – how the Swiss government makes decisions

This content was published on Apr 22, 2025 Secret meetings, no prime minister, and a seven-member executive that defends decisions collectively – the Swiss system of “collegiality” explained.

How Swiss federalism emerged and shapes the nation

This content was published on Apr 11, 2025 In a country with four official languages and 26 cantons, federalism is a principle deeply rooted in the people and political system of Switzerland.

How Swiss direct democracy works

This content was published on Mar 31, 2025 What do direct democratic tools like popular initiatives and referendums really entail? And how has this unique system evolved over time?

In Switzerland, trust and stability are interwoven

This content was published on Mar 25, 2025 The global political order is in upheaval, yet Switzerland remains relatively stable. SWI swissinfo.ch reporter Benjamin von Wyl analyses why.

Exhibit from Gaza on display at the MAH in Geneva.

How Switzerland helps protect the world’s endangered cultural heritage

This content was published on Mar 19, 2025 Geneva safeguards cultural treasures, from Spanish art to Ukrainian and Gaza heritage, reflecting Switzerland’s global heritage commitment.

According to his close circle of family and firends, Peter Bichsel “passed away peacefully” on Saturday. He would have celebrated his 90th birthday on March 24.

Obituary: Peter Bichsel, the master of short prose

This content was published on Mar 17, 2025 Peter Bichsel, a sharp observer of Swiss life, was one of the most important voices in Swiss literature.

A policewoman brings a baby to safety in Sri Lanka. A Danish couple had tried to take the child unlawfully in 2007.

Why were there so many international adoptions in the past?

This content was published on Jan 29, 2025 Many Swiss cantons want to help adopted individuals find their biological parents.

Bady Minck's "La Belle est la Bête / Beauty is the Beast", 2005.

Against ‘Kids, Kitchen, Church’: the surrealist women who fought the legacies of fascism

This content was published on Jan 3, 2025 The Traumatic Surreal, an exhibition in Leeds (UK), sheds light on a feminist – and overlooked – thread in the evolution of the surrealist movement.

Happy – and creepy – New Year in Switzerland!

This content was published on Dec 31, 2024 Billions of people around the world will be marking the New Year somehow – and the tradition-loving Swiss are no exception.

Ubersitz, the utterly unique – and deafening – Swiss custom

This content was published on Dec 21, 2024 At the end of the year the villages around Meiringen pump up the volume and bizarre characters celebrate the ancient tradition of Ubersitz.

Emilio Balli in Japan in February 1879. Valmaggia Museum

The Swiss globetrotter who followed closely in Jules Verne’s footsteps

This content was published on Nov 15, 2024 Inspired by Jules Verne’s newly printed book Around the World in 80 Days (1872), Emilio Balli, a young Swiss from canton Ticino, undertook his own extraordinary round-the-world journey in 1878-1879.