Cluster: Swiss Identity

Keeping the flame alive in Fribourg

This content was published on Oct 5, 2013 Friendship, Knowledge and Virtue: those are the basic values of the Society of Swiss Students, symbolised by its three colours, burgundy, white and green. The society has 70 sections in senior secondary schools and universities throughout the country, including 11 in Fribourg, a bastion of student societies in Switzerland. They include the Sarinia, a French-speaking…

Culture

Inflatable ‘ark’ brings artistic relief to Japan

This content was published on Oct 4, 2013 The inflatable structure was designed by architect Arata Isozaki and sculptor and designer Anish Kapoor. Haefliger spoke with swissinfo.ch from the city of Matsushima, Japan, where the first edition of the festival is being held through October 13. Musicians, conductors and artists from around the world are offering performances and workshops in an effort to…

Culture

Suspected Da Vinci painting found in bank vault

This content was published on Oct 4, 2013 Italian media reported last week that the depiction of the Renaissance patron Isabella d’Este is owned by a family from Italy. “The owners…divide their time between central Italy and German-speaking Switzerland and own some 400 paintings, the fruits of multiple acquisitions made by their ancestors,” the Italian newspaper Sette confirmed. The painting, which measures 61…

Demographics

Charity donations increase in 2012

This content was published on Oct 3, 2013 Almost CHF1.05 billion was given to ZEWO-certified charities, of which a third came from individuals, the office said on Thursday. It also included CHF198 million from members, patrons and sponsors. Bequests were particularly high at CHF141 million. While total donations increased by 4.3 per cent compared with the previous year, the amount given to non-ZEWO-certified…

Culture

Alpine pastures continue to shrink

This content was published on Oct 1, 2013 This is the conclusion of the latest AlpFUTUR research programme entitled, “The future of summer pastures in Switzerland”, presented on Tuesday at Schüpfheim in canton Lucerne. Every summer 17,000 mountain farmers take their herds up to the summer pastures where they continue age-old farming traditions and make quality cheese, cold meats and other farm products.…

Demographics

Printer admits CHF1.8m theft of 1,000-franc notes

This content was published on Oct 1, 2013 Three people, two in the British capital – one of whom was a Swiss resident – and another in Zurich, were arrested after the theft was discovered last autumn. The Swiss resident was sentenced in London to a prison term and spent seven months in jail, while the Zurich suspect spent two-and-a-half months in detention.…

Demographics

Mixed feelings over new Swiss cannabis law

This content was published on Sep 30, 2013 Thick sweet-smelling smoke spirals slowly upwards from a secluded courtyard in the Les Grottes neighbourhood not far from Geneva railway station. “Sure this change is a good thing,” says *Dani, a young cannabis smoker. “I’ve been caught by the police before and I had five grams on me – they thought I was a dealer.…

Demographics

Burka ban ‘would drive away our best customers’

This content was published on Sep 29, 2013 “Tourists from the Gulf states will think twice about whether they should go to Switzerland,” Barbara Gisi, head of the Swiss Tourism Association, told the SonntagsBlick. On September 22, two-thirds of voters in canton Ticino approved a ban on face-covering headgear in public places – the first canton to do so. It will now be…

Demographics

‘My health problems gave me the strength to take risks’

This content was published on Sep 29, 2013 With blond hair in a sporty cut and sea-blue eyes, wearing a sleeveless red blouse and blue jeans with fancy embroidery and flat sandals, the 58-year-old who meets me with a warm smile and a firm handshake at Palézieux railway station certainly does not match the stereotype of the successful businesswoman. Yet the attitude of the…

Culture

‘Our business model doesn’t work without stars’

This content was published on Sep 28, 2013 No one was expecting a new film festival in 2005, when Spoerri and Nadja Schildknecht, both 32 at the time, founded their own company – especially no one in Locarno or Solothurn, which already had festivals. Too much glamour, too little content, bleated critics. The glamour factor at this year’s festival is indeed dizzyingly high…

Cluster: Swiss Identity

Popular Stories

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Cluster: Swiss Identity

More

Keeping the flame alive in Fribourg

More

Inflatable ‘ark’ brings artistic relief to Japan

More

Suspected Da Vinci painting found in bank vault

More

Charity donations increase in 2012

More

Alpine pastures continue to shrink

More

Printer admits CHF1.8m theft of 1,000-franc notes

More

Mixed feelings over new Swiss cannabis law

More

Burka ban ‘would drive away our best customers’

More

‘My health problems gave me the strength to take risks’

More

‘Our business model doesn’t work without stars’

Popular Stories

Most Discussed