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39 unusual facts about Switzerland


1920–21 Swiss International Ice Hockey Championship

The 1920-21 Swiss International Ice Hockey Championship was the sixth edition of the international ice hockey championship in Switzerland.

1920–21 Swiss National Ice Hockey Championship

The 1920-21 Swiss National Ice Hockey Championship was the 11th edition of the national ice hockey championship in Switzerland.

Acquarossa

Acquarossa, Switzerland, the capital of the district of Blenio in the canton of Ticino.

Albert III, Count of Habsburg

Albert III (d. 25 November 1199), also known as Albert the Rich, was Count of Habsburg and a progenitor of the royal House of Habsburg.

Association François-Xavier Bagnoud

Bagnoud was involved in over 300 rescue missions as part of Sion, Switzerland's Air Glaciers.

Bellerive

Bellerive, Switzerland, municipality in the district of Avenches in the canton of Vaud

Cédric Wermuth

After a failed candidature on cantonal level, he was endowed with a mandate from the Baden.

Comologno

In 1995 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Crana and Russo to form a new and larger municipality Onsernone.

County of Baden

Upon the merging of the canton of Baden into Aargau in 1803, the district gained the municipalities of Würenlingen, Bellikon, Künten, Remetschwil, Stetten, Mellingen, Wohlenschwil and Mägenwil (from neighbouring districts of the canton of Baden) but had to give up Hüttikon, Oetwil an der Limmat, Dietikon and Schlieren to the Canton of Zurich.

Economy of Switzerland

Railways played a major part in industrialization with the first railway appearing in 1847 between Zurich and Baden.

Engi

Engi, Switzerland, a former municipality in the canton of Glarus in Switzerland

Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú

Ruiz Guiñazú served as both a professor and a banker before into the diplomatic service, with his roles including chief delegate to the League of Nations and ambassador to Switzerland.

Eugen Bleuler

In 1886 Bleuler became the director of a psychiatric clinic at Rheinau, a hospital located in an old monastery on an island in the Rhine.

Felben

In 1983 the municipality was merged with the neighboring municipality Wellhausen to form a new and larger municipality Felben-Wellhausen.

Gábor Takács-Nagy

In 2005, he formed the string orchestra Camerata Bellerive, as a resident ensemble at the Festival de Bellerive in Geneva, where he has served as co-artistic director.

Guilé Foundation

This non-profit organization of Swiss private law has been founded in 1997 by the Charles Burrus family headquartered in Boncourt, Switzerland.

Invicta International Airlines Flight 435

On 10 April 1973 Invicta International Airways Flight 435 was a Vickers Vanguard 952, flying from Bristol Lulsgate to Basel-Mulhouse that ploughed into a snowy, forested hillside near Hochwald, Switzerland.

Johann Christoff Büss

It was at this point that he became acquainted with two of Pestalozzi’s assistants, Tobler and Krusi, and learned that Pestalozzi was looking for a teacher of drawing and music for his school at Burgdorf.

Joseph-Nicolas Barbeau du Barran

Joseph-Nicolas Barbeau du Barran (3 July 1761, Castelnau-d'Auzan - 16 May 1816, Assens, Vaud canton) was a French politician.

Malans

Malans, Switzerland, a municipality in the Swiss canton of Graubünden

Marcellus Emants

He died on 20th of October 1923 in the Grand Hôtel in Baden and was interred in The Hague on the General Cemetery.

Maximilian Harden

Harden abandoned the publishing of Die Zukunft and in 1923 retired to Montana, Switzerland where he died four years later.

Permanent Observer of Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva

The Permanent Observer of Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva is the representative of the Pope and the Catholic Church to the European office of the United Nations — in Geneva, Switzerland.

Pet, Inc.

John Baptist Meÿenberg (1847-1914) was an operator at the Anglo-Swiss milk condensery at Cham, Switzerland.

Randoald of Grandval

Saint Randoald (Rancald, Randaut) (†21 February 675) was prior of the Benedictine monastery of Grandval in the Moutier valley, under saint Germanus.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur

These two missions, Rhætiæ and Mesauci, were made prefectures Apostolic under the care of Italian Capuchins and these prefects resided in the towns of Obervaz and Cama, both in the Canton of Graubünden.

Saint-Luc, Switzerland

An independent municipality before, it merged on 1 January 2009 with neighboring Ayer, Chandolin, Grimentz, Saint Jean and Vissoie to form the municipality of Anniviers.

Society for the history of art in Switzerland

The first issue of this series was devoted to the stained-glass windows of the chancel of the church in Oberkirch near Frauenfeld and the Weinmarkt (wine market) fountain in Lucerne, with texts by Johann Rudolf Rahn and Josef Zemp.

Souvenir d'un lieu cher

The Méditation was written between 23 and 25 March 1878, in Clarens, Switzerland, where Tchaikovsky wrote his Violin Concerto.

Stefan Bernhard

Diploma in Chemical Engineering (1985-1988) from the School of Engineering in Burgdorf, Switzerland

Sylviane Berthod

Sylviane Berthod (born 25 April 1977 in Salins) is a female alpine skier from Switzerland, who was Swiss champion in downhill skiing (1997, 1998, 1999) and Giant Slalom (1998).

Tannay

Tannay, Switzerland, a municipality in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland

Tello

He bequeathed his extensive landed and movable wealth, which was concentrated in the lower Surselva between Flims and Trun, to Disentis Abbey, with which he had had close ties.

Tomorrow Blue

Tomorrow Blue is the second album by the Switzerland rock band of the Toad released in 1972.It was the second Toad album engineered by legendary British producer Martin Birch.

Trient

Trient, Switzerland, a hamlet of around 150 people in Valais, Switzerland

Trolleybuses in Geneva

On 11 December 2011, the municipalities of Bernex and Confignon ceased to be served by trolleybuses, when the lines to those communities were converted into tram lines.

University of New York Tirana

Since September 2004, UNYT, in collaboration with Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch in Sion, Switzerland and the University of Sunderland, offers a Master of Business Administration program.

Upper Rhine Railway

To make this possible, the Erzingen–Beringen section will be duplicated and five level crossings will be replaced by underpasses by 2013.

Wildberg

Wildberg, Switzerland, a municipality in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland


2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal

Swiss IOC member Marc Hodler, head of the coordination committee overseeing the organization of the 2002 games, accused that a group of members of the IOC had taken bribes since the 1990 bidding process for the 1996 Olympic games.

Abdus Suttar Khan

Abdus Suttar Khan a Bangladeshi Oxford Scholar and distinguished aerospace researcher for four decades with NASA, Pratt & Whitney, and the power generation company Alstom (Switzerland).

Agnes Boulton

Her daughter, Oona O'Neill, married Charlie Chaplin in 1943 at the age of 18 (he was 54), and moved to Switzerland with him nine years later, renouncing her American citizenship.

Alf Bonnevie Bryn

He made several first ascents in Switzerland, Corsica and Norway, including the first successful ascent of Stetind in 1910 (together with Ferdinand Schjelderup and Carl Wilhelm Rubenson).

Augusto Giacometti

Augusto Giacometti (August 16, 1877 – June 9, 1947) was a Swiss painter from Stampa, Graubünden, cousin of Giovanni Giacometti who was the father of Alberto, Diego and Bruno Giacometti.

Bruno Maag

Bruno Maag (born 1962) is a Swiss type designer and founder of type design company Dalton Maag.

Brunstad Christian Church

From the 1950s, the church began to spread throughout Western Europe, most notably in Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, after several church leaders were invited to participate in the Pentecostal conferences held at Leonberg during the 1950s.

Cavaglio-Spoccia

Cavaglio-Spoccia borders the following municipalities: Brissago (Switzerland), Cannobio, Cursolo-Orasso, Falmenta, Gurro, Palagnedra (Switzerland).

Chemins de fer du Jura

The Chemins de fer du Jura (CJ), the railways of the Jura canton in northern Switzerland, came about as the result of an amalgamation, in 1944, of four independent companies connecting Porrentruy to Bonfol, Saignelégier to La Chaux-de-Fonds, Glovelier to Saignelégier and Tavannes to Tramelan and Le Noirmont.

CSTX

The first thirteen were isolated and identified in 1994 by Lucia Kuhn-Nentwig, Johann Schaller, and Wolfgang Nentwig of the Zoological Institute at the University of Bern, Switzerland.

Djamel Mesbah

In May 2010, Mesbah was called up for the first time to the Algeria national football team by Rabah Saâdane for a two-week training camp in Crans-Montana, Switzerland in preparation for the 2010 World Cup.

First International Congress on World Evangelization

The congress was a conference of some 2,700 evangelical Christian leaders that was held in the Palais de Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1974 to discuss the progress, resources and methods of evangelizing the world.

Fleming College Florence

Originally founded in Lugano, Switzerland in 1968, the College relocated to Florence, Italy in 1972 to Torre Di Gattaia, just off Viale Michelangelo on a hill above the city.

Fort Montecchio-Lusardi

The main function of the fort was to control the roads of Spluga, Maloja and Stelvio, in case the Central Powers decided to invade northern Italy, violating the neutrality of Switzerland.

Franz Anatol Wyss

Franz Anatol Wyss (born Fulenbach, May 1, 1940) is a Swiss painter.

Georg Knorr

Theodor Georg Knorr (born November 13, 1859 in Ruda, West Prussia; died April 15, 1911 in Davos, Switzerland), was an engineer and entrepreneur on the field of railroad technology and founder of the company Knorr-Bremse.

Heinrich von Siebold

She bought Castle Freudenstein close to Bözen in Switzerland, where they spent comfortably their last years surrounded by his rich collections.

Hürlimann Brewery

Hürlimann Brewery is a former brewery in Zürich, Switzerland, now owned by the Rheinfelden, Aargau based brewery Feldschlösschen, which is owned by Carlsberg.

Ice Hockey European Championship 1922

The tournament was played between February 14, and February 16, 1922, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and it was won by Czechoslovakia.

Initiatives of Change

Mountain House, formerly the Caux-Palace Hotel in Caux, near Montreux, Switzerland is the Institute's conference center.

International Data Encryption Algorithm

A patent application for IDEA was first filed in Switzerland (CH A 1690/90) on May 18, 1990, then an international patent application was filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty on May 16, 1991.

International Federation of Socialist Young People's Organizations

On April 5–7, 1915 (Easter) a conference of the young socialists was held at the Volkshaus in Berne, Switzerland.

Jennifer Nicks

The pair won gold at the 1953 World Championships in Davos, Switzerland.

Jennifer Oehrli

Her father's name was Rolf, her mother is Ruth, Jennifer grew up with her younger sister Svenja in Zollbrück/Rüderswil in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Josef Leistentritt

He won a bronze medal in the men's doubles event at the 1954 European luge championships in Davos, Switzerland.

Liz McComb

While regularly touring in Germany, Spain, France and Switzerland, she was in constant contact with the “greats”, doing the first part of their concerts, such as Bessie Griffin, Helen Humes, Luther Allison, B.B. King, James Brown, Ray Charles, Memphis Slim, Taj Mahal, Randy Weston, etc.

Lucienne Bloch

Bloch was born in Geneva, Switzerland, the youngest child of composer and photographer Ernest Bloch.

LZ 4

After modifications further trials were made on 23 and 29 June, and on 1 July a spectacular 12  cross-country flight was made during which it was flown over Switzerland to Zürich and then back to Lake Constance, covering 386 m (240 mi) and reaching an altitude of 795 m (2,600 ft).

Margrit Mondavi

A native of Appenzell, Switzerland, Margrit was raised in her family home overlooking Lake Maggiore, in the canton of Ticino.

Maurice Machenbaum

In 2000 he became Program Director for Latin America and the Caribbean for Terre des hommes Lausanne, Switzerland's largest independent child-focused NGO.

Max Arias-Schreiber Pezet

He studied at Colegio Sagrados Corazones Recoleta (Lima) and Institut Le Rosey (Switzerland).

Melchior Lussy

Melchior Lussy (1529–1606) was a Swiss Catholic statesman who represented the Catholic cantons of Switzerland in the Council of Trent.

Melide causeway

The Melide causeway, sometimes called the Melide bridge or Melide dam, is a causeway and bridge across Lake Lugano in the Swiss canton of Ticino.

Mohammad Vali Mirza Farman Farmaian

After the 1979 revolution he left Iran for Geneva, Switzerland with his family and not to return to Iran until he died at the age of 92.

Nikolaos Mavridis

He is also an active member of the Horasis think tank based in Switzerland, whose purpose is to "enact visions for a sustainable future" through new platforms for cooperation and knowledge-sharing, particularly between developed countries and emerging markets.

Operation Green

Operation Tannenbaum, the planned invasion of Switzerland, known earlier as Operation Green

Øyvin Thon

He is also five times Relay champion, as a member of the Norwegian winning teams in 1981 (Thun, Switzerland), 1983 (Zalaegerszeg, Hungary), 1985 (Bendigo, Australia), 1987 (Gérardmer, France) and 1989 (Skaraborg, Sweden).

Patricia Buckley

Aside from their home in Stamford, Connecticut, the Buckleys also had an Upper East Side duplex in Manhattan and leased the Chateau de Rougemont, a former monastery, near Gstaad, Switzerland, for the winters.

Pinus cembra

Pinus cembra, also known as Swiss pine, Swiss stone pine or Arolla pine, is a species of pine tree that grows in the Alps and Carpathian Mountains of central Europe, in Poland (Tatra Mountains), Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia (Tatra Mountains), Ukraine and Romania.

Robert Pearsall Smith

The following year, after preaching in front of royalty and taking breakfast with Gladstone they travelled to Germany and Switzerland, where they preached in several major cities.

Scott J. Freidheim

Since 2006, Freidheim has participated in many panels at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland as well as at the inaugural New Champions Meeting in Dalian, China and was a member of the WEF's Global Agenda Council.

Sewa Beats

Sewa Beats is an international company with its headquarters in Écublens, Switzerland, that delivers management learning through rhythm and music.

Smaky

The Smaky is a line of mostly 8-bit personal computers and accompanying operating system developed by Professor Jean-Daniel Nicoud and others at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland beginning in 1974.

SRF Airspace monitoring and management system

From 1955 to 1966, a school complex in Dübendorf (the "Radar Doerfli" (Radar Village) on the training site Dürrbach Rüti bei Riggisberg), one on the top of Bütschelegg (above Bern-Belp) and the plants on height locations (mountain peaks) were formed for the first radar aerial surveillance system of Switzerland.

Stefan Constantinescu

The exhibition incorporates a cardboard installation with a series of video works by Hungarian artist Péter Forgács, Poland’s Zuzanna Janin, UK-based collaborators Karen Mirza and Brad Butler, Lithuanian Deimantas Narkevičius and Switzerland’sYves Netzhammer, sound-work by Liliana Moro, a sculpture by Via Lewandowski and Constantinescu's own film My Beautiful Dacia.

Tecan

Tecan took over the company REMP based in Oberdiessbach, Switzerland, supplying automated laboratory and logistics systems in the life-science area.

The Big Dream

It charted elsewhere internationally, including the Belgian Albums Chart in both Flanders and Wallonia, France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland.

The Friend of God from the Oberland

Jundt Les Amis de Dieu (1879) This book shared Preger's view that the Friend was a great unknown who lived in or near Chur (Coire) in Switzerland.

Varese railway station

As from 2013, Varese railway station will become international, upon the opening of the new Varese–Arcisate (I)–Stabio (CH)–Mendrisio railway, which will branch off at Arcisate from the Varese-Porto Ceresio line, and then enter Switzerland at Stabio.

Winterthur, Delaware

This museum is named after the 6th-greatest city in Switzerland, Winterthur.