Swiss Stories

Rio de Janeiro

OMEGA & Viva Rio

Society
OMEGA, the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, has concluded its successful Community Countdown with Viva Rio. The #OMEGAVIVARIO partnership began in August 2015, with 12 social projects planned over 12 months that would benefit vulnerable young people in the Olympic Games host city.
CSEM

Switzerland showcases its capacity for sustainable energy innovation in Astana

Science & Education
In keeping with the overall theme of Expo 2017 – “Future Energy” – the Swiss pavilion in Astana focuses on renewable resources. This international showcase enables Switzerland to highlight its leading-edge expertise and capacity for innovation in energy.
Bollywood und die Schweiz

Bollywood and Switzerland

History
Switzerland and its mountain scenery are hugely popular in India, mainly because of the Bollywood blockbusters filmed there. Indian filmmakers' passion for Switzerland has helped make it one of the most popular destinations for Indian tourists seeking the locations of some of their favourite film scenes.

by Tatiana Tissot

Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich

Emmy Ball-Hennings

Society
She beguiled cabaret audiences as a singer and dancer and pushed the art scene in new directions. But outside the world of theatre, the German artist Emmy Hennings and her partner and eventual husband Hugo Ball lived in exile and grinding poverty. In February 1916 the couple opened the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich's Niederdorf district – Dada had arrived!
Barbara Piatti

by Barbara Piatti

Red Divico grapes

Swiss wine without pesticides

Science & Education
Switzerland's centre of excellence for agricultural research Agroscope has been creating new grape varieties for 50 years. Their goals are ambitious – particularly the targets for disease resistance. Several generations of resistant varieties have emerged, helping to gradually reduce the impact of diseases and the use of pesticides. Fungal diseases – a major concern for winegrowers Swiss winegrowers face considerable difficulties with fungal diseases, two of which are particularly entrenched in Switzerland: downy and powdery mildew. It is very hard to cultivate grapes without pesticides today – both in conventional and organic vineyards. To help avoid this, Agroscope's viticulture research team focuses its efforts on creating resistant grapevines.
Michael Weber, head of VariCom, and Danilo Christen, creater of the variety © Sedrik Nemeth

The Fred® pear – the fruit of perseverance and expertise

Environment
The perfect pear does exist. It's Swiss and it's called Fred®. Launched at the beginning of 2018, the fruit is the culmination of an 18-year breeding programme carried out by researchers at Agroscope, Switzerland's centre of excellence for agricultural research. And at the heart of the process: the desire to produce the ideal pear to satisfy growers, sellers and buyers alike.
Elias Läderach

Swiss Chocolate Masters winner

Society
For Elias Läderach, dreaming up new chocolate creations is about much more than just exquisite taste. It's also about art and innovation – from the initial design to tasting trials and the final hand-crafted creation. It's a process of regular self-scrutiny and a chance to use creativity to translate tradition into something new. Elias' win at the World Chocolate Masters in Paris proves how Swiss chocolatiers can reach even greater heights – in innovation.