Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
We’re all over the world today, finding out what ambitious Swiss citizens are up to in Cape Verde (distilling vodka), Rwanda (opening a fitness centre), Spain (running a dog hotel) and Germany (opening a café in a water tower). I also look at some of Switzerland weirdest museums – one of which “has enough material for a thousand nightmares”!
In the news: Swiss football champions, Iran helicopter crash, racist trademark, and healthy chocolate.
The Young Boys have done it again! BSC Young Boys from Bern have been crowned Swiss football champions for the 17th time. Young Boys have dominated the Swiss Super League in recent years, winning the title six times in the past seven seasons. That said, they’re a large fish in a small pond: they have failed to leave any mark on the Champions League, the annual tournament of Europe’s best clubs.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has expressed his condolences after the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash at the weekend. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian also died. The Swiss embassy in Tehran handles US consular affairs in Iran while Switzerland also uses its good offices role to mediate during heightened tensions.
Mexican food company Bimbo cannot register its trademark “Bimbo QSR” in Switzerland. The Federal Administrative Court confirmed the rejection due to the racist connotations of the term. The Federal Institute of Intellectual Property justified its rejection with the “deeply derogatory and racist” meaning of the term “bimbo” for dark-skinned people.
Scientists at federal technology institute ETH Zurich have developed a new type of chocolate that is more sustainable and richer in nutrients than chocolate made using conventional production methods. The lab chocolate contains more fibre and less saturated fatty acids than normal chocolate, making it healthier, a study shows.
Think of vodka and you probably think of snow and the cold. But the vodka voted the best in the world comes from a tropical island in the Atlantic – and is made by a Swiss Abroad.
“Prosperous Vodka” from Cape Verde, which won gold at the International Wine and Spirits Competition, is distilled by Appenzell-born José Steiner.
Steiner, 28, has lived in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, for nine years. Before he started distilling spirits, he ran a drinks shop, becoming increasingly interested in the production of the drinks. “Many things that we take for granted in Switzerland don’t exist here,” he says in this article. No clothing chains, no McDonald’s, no bottles and lids for his vodka. “Everything has to be imported.”
Steiner has also realised that it’s not always easy to be the first to do something in a country. While the government was regulating the production of gin, his licence was suspended and he had to stop distilling. Not a good start for a new business. Once everything was sorted out, Steiner switched to vodka. The rest is Swiss-Cape Verdean history.
The latest season of the Up and Away series follows three Swiss families who left Switzerland for Rwanda, Spain and Germany. How are they coping in their new lives?
Auf und davon (Up and Away), a documentary series made by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company, follows the Schommers, the Waldburgers and the Caboussats over six episodes during the first months of their new lives in a new country.
In each episode, we learn about the latest challenges and surprises they face. The Schommers, from canton Solothurn, want to open a fitness club in Rwanda. The Waldburgers are relocating from Lake Constance to Costa Blanca to run a dog hotel. The Caboussats are moving from Emmental to Germany to convert an old water tower on the North Sea into a 40-metre-high café. Watch all the episodes here.
Switzerland has some of the biggest and best museums in the world, but it is also home to some really bizarre and niche ones. Which museum, for example, has “enough material for a thousand nightmares”? (Clue: it’s got nothing to do with HR Giger.)
Switzerland has the highest density of museums in the world, with more than 1,000 devoted to a wide range of topics. Here’s a look at some that are off the beaten tourist track.
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