Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

do you know what the most famous/infamous stone in Switzerland is?

It is the 83.5 kilo Unspunnen Stone that was first stolen by Jura separatists 40 years ago today.

Nobody knows where it is today, but there is hope it will be returned since the Jura question has been more or less settled.

Keystone / Michael Buholzer

In the news: Busy armed forces, Alpine solar protest and AI fossil research.

For a neutral country, the Swiss armed forces have been quite busy these days. Today, the army’s deployment at BürgenstockExternal link for the Ukraine peace conference has begun. From June 5 to 19, as many as 4,000 members of the armed forces will be helping with various tasks. In addition, a total of 50 Swiss Armed Forces members will take part in the multinational NATO Tiger MeetExternal link exercise in Schleswig, Germany, held from June 3 to 14.

The first large-scale solar plant in mountains approved by the government under the “Solar Express” plan to boost renewable power has hit a roadblock. Environmental groups have filed a legal challenge External linkagainst the proposed eight-hectare unit in the Simmental valley.

Less than 0.1% of extinct species leave a fossil record. This makes it difficult for researchers to figure out mass extinctions in the past. Scientists from the University of Fribourg are now using artificial intelligence to unravel the Earth’s diversityExternal link in the past and how this biodiversity was lost.

Keystone

Stone cold trail: Unspunnenstein come home

The Unspunnenstein (Unspunnen Stone) is named after Switzerland’s most revered stone-throwing contest and has been tossed at celebrations of folklore and national heritage for a century. It is one of the country’s most cherished cultural objects.

The stone was first stolen on June 3, 1984, from the Interlaken Museum of Tourism by the Jura separatist group that called themselves Béliers. No easy feat, as the stone weighed 83.5 kilograms. The Béliers have been fighting for the political reunification of the canton Jura, which has been disputed since the tenth century.

The Unspunnenstein was returned in 2001, but in 2005 it disappeared again. This time it was stolen from the lobby of the Victoria-Jungfrau Hotel in Interlaken.

“We would still like to have the stone back,” Peter Michel told the Keystone-SDA news agency. Michel is president of the Interlaken Gymnastics Club that owns the stone and would like to put it in a museum.

There are many theories on the stone’s whereabouts: maybe it’s in the Jura or at the bottom of Lake Thun.

“If the stone comes back, it will do so in a spectacular fashion,” said Michel.