The week in Switzerland
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Do you remember where you were when you saw the extraordinary images of the landslide-hit Swiss village of Blatten? A year after the disaster, residents explain what has changed – and how life goes on.
Thursday marked exactly one year since a collapsing glacier destroyed large parts of the village of Blatten, in southwestern Switzerland. Twelve months on, all Swiss newspapers sent journalists to the scene.
“Anyone standing in the Lötschental on this day in May quickly realises that the memory is very present for the people here. It’s in the valley floor, in the cone of rubble. And it’s in a small key that the mayor Matthias Bellwald pulls out of his trouser pocket,” the Tages-Anzeiger wrote. “The key hangs on the key ring and looks like any other – but the door to which it belongs no longer exists.”
On May 28, 2025, the Birch Glacier above Blatten collapsed under the huge weight of rocks from the crumbling Kleines Nesthorn mountain. In just 40 seconds, over nine million cubic metres of rock, mud, ice and debris thundered down the slope at up to 300km/h, engulfing the village and burying some 130 buildings. Within hours the River Lonza backed up and flooded more houses. All 300 residents had been evacuated, but a 64-year-old shepherd died. The total insured loss from the landslide is estimated at CHF255 million ($325 million).
“Blatten – between mourning and reconstruction” was the headline in 24heures. The plan is for Blatten to be standing again by 2029.
“It will be some time before it is clear exactly where, how and what can be built,” explained Swiss public broadcaster SRF in its animated report. “The exact zoning plan will probably not be known until 2027. Only then will it be clear, among other things, how densely built or in what style the houses will actually be built.” It pointed out that opinions on the design of the new village differed. “For example, everyone agrees that a village square is needed, but they don’t agree as to whether it should be car-free.”
“Nobody can say what the new Blatten will look like and how many inhabitants it will have,” concluded the reportage in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ). “But one thing is already certain: belonging to the village is no longer simply inherited. It’s the result of a personal decision.”
As Swissinfo found out, local associations have become the glue holding a scattered community together. In our report we explain how the Fafleralp Blatten music society embodies the villagers’ determination to keep ties alive, to regain a semblance of normality and to look to the future with optimism.
“For the first time in decades, Switzerland is no longer the world leader in wealth management,” Swiss public broadcaster RTS declared on Wednesday. “A development that is causing concern in the Swiss financial centre.”
A ranking by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reported that wealth managers in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong had booked $2.9 trillion (CHF2.3 trillion) of international assets in 2025.
“The stronger increase in Hong Kong [10.7% versus 7.6% for Switzerland] primarily reflects the arrival of funds from mainland China, where the largest number of fortunes are currently being created in the world. These funds accounted for no less than 60% of assets under management,” RTS said.
BCG forecast that the rapid increase in Asian fortunes would widen the gap between Hong Kong and Switzerland to almost $600 billion by the end of the decade.
But, as the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) pointed out, “since the war in Iran, Switzerland has once again benefited from its reputation as a safe haven and is attracting a lot of money from the countries concerned”.
Three people were stabbed at Winterthur train station on Thursday morning by a man reportedly shouting “Allahu Akbar”.
The victims, men aged 28, 43 and 52, were taken to hospital. Their injuries are not life-threatening.
Police said the Swiss-born 31-year-old Swiss-Turkish dual citizen had been a suspect in connection with the investigations against the An’Nur Mosque in Winterthur, northern Switzerland, ten years ago. At that time, he was charged with violating a criminal ban on the terror group ISIS.
On Monday the man contacted the city police and made “incoherent statements”. As a result, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. On Wednesday a doctor certified that he no longer posed a danger to himself or others, and he was allowed to leave the clinic.
The psychiatric unit in Winterthur has initiated an external investigation that will examine the processes and responsibilities that led to the man’s discharge.
Corine Mauch, Zurich’s mayor for the past 17 years, handed over the keys to her office on Tuesday.
Giving her last speech as mayor, Mauch, who turned 66 on Thursday, said she was pleased with the development of Switzerland’s largest city, which she said had grown by 70,000 people and 10,000 municipal flats during her term of office.
The media were not exactly kind to her initially – she was the first woman to do the job – and the nickname “Grey Mauch” was soon doing the rounds, the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA reported. However, the Iowa-born agricultural economist (her family moved back to Switzerland when she was four) quickly became more confident in her dealings with the media and the public.
“Mauch dictated Zurich’s fate for 17 years,” the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) wrote on Wednesday. “She came in as a politician whom hardly anyone knew and who initially appeared awkward. She is the very first woman in a list of city presidents and mayors that stretches back to the late Middle Ages. Mauch quickly came to stand for cosmopolitanism. During her time, the city developed into one of the most sought-after metropolises in the world: top in terms of quality of life – but also top in terms of the cost of living.”
Mauch, a member of the left-wing Social Democratic Party, will be succeeded by party colleague Raphael Golta.
The week ahead
The three-week summer session of parliament begins in Bern on Monday, running until June 19.
On Tuesday the federal statistical office publishes the nominal wage growth for 2026.
The winners of the Swiss Music Prizes will be named by the Federal Office of Culture on Thursday.
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