Swiss Stories

portrait sarah marquis

Sarah Marquis, always on the move

Environment
Books, lectures, and of course expeditions: Swiss explorer Sarah Marquis never stops. We caught up with her before she hit the road again.
paul grueninger

The police commander who saved hundreds of Jews

History
As Jewish refugees attempted to flee from Austria to Switzerland, Paul Grüninger, commander of the St Gallen police, disobeyed orders in order to help them. He would pay dearly for it.
© Urban Games

The Swiss video game scene

Science & Education
When it comes to video game developers, the US and Japan are probably more likely to come to mind than Switzerland. And yet the Swiss video game scene is booming. While still a nascent business, it is growing at full speed and now an export industry. In less than a decade, Swiss game design has evolved from its startup roots to a fully fledged industry, holding its own at some of the world's leading video game conferences.
Schweizer Mythen und Legenden

Swiss myths and legends

History
The legend of William Tell – the man who skilfully splits an apple on his son's head with his crossbow rather than bowing down to a local dignitary's hat – has come to represent the Swiss people's spirit of independence. It is a story that is known and loved well beyond the Swiss border. But this folk hero from the canton of Uri is only one of the many characters in Swiss legends: alongside William Tell, there is a panoply of fairies, mountain trolls and dwarves, not to mention giant fish and angry witches 'beating' the streams. There is no shortage of Swiss myths and legends – and a new generation of books is generating fresh interest in their revamped stories.
etivaz

The champions of local produce

Society
The 7th Swiss local food competition has crowned artisans and their specialities in different categories. We provide a background on some of this year's winners.

by Tatiana Tissot

Lake Lucerne

Combating climate change with Swiss lakes

Environment
Switzerland’s lake surface waters contain vast amounts of thermal energy, collected from the sun and stored as heat. This can be extracted and used for heating. At the same time lake water can be used as a coolant.
Local food competition

Switzerland praises local food

Society
The seventh edition of the Swiss competition of local food products will be held at the end of September in the Jura, providing the public with an opportunity to discover the different cantonal delicacies and mingle with the people whose passion and craft lies behind these treats.