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36 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.

1921–22 Swiss International Ice Hockey Championship

The 1921-22 Swiss International Ice Hockey Championship was the seventh edition of the international ice hockey championship in Switzerland.

1921–22 Swiss National Ice Hockey Championship

The 1921-22 Swiss National Ice Hockey Championship was the 12th 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 IV, Count of Habsburg

Albert IV (or Albert the Wise) (ca. 1188 – December 13, 1239) was Count of Habsburg in the Aargau and a progenitor of the royal House of Habsburg.

Anglo Swiss

Anglo Swiss or Anglo-Swiss describes people or things with joint English and Swiss connections.

Auressio

In 2001 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Berzona and Loco to form a new and larger municipality Isorno.

Autigny

Autigny, Switzerland, a commune in the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland

Bellerive

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

Beringen

Beringen, Switzerland, a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.

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.

Crana

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

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-Wellhausen

The municipality was created in 1983 by a merger of Felben and Wellhausen.

Fétigny

Fétigny, Switzerland, a municipality in the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland

Frauen SHV-Cup

The Frauen SHV-Cup is an annual single-elimination tournament for Swiss women's handball clubs organized by the Swiss Handball Federation (SHV).

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.

Helen Zimmern

She befriended Friedrich Nietzsche, two of whose books she would later translate, in Switzerland in the mid-1880s.

Isorno

The municipality was created in 2001 by a merger of Auressio, Berzona and Loco.

Kingdom of Arles

In 888, upon the death of the Emperor Charles the Fat, son of Louis the German, Count Rudolph of Auxerre, Count of Burgundy, founded the Kingdom of Upper Burgundy at Saint-Maurice which included the County of Burgundy, in northwestern Upper Burgundy.

Lavey-Village

Lavey-Village is located in the former municipality Lavey.

Libero de Luca

He retired from the stage in 1961, and became a full-time voice teacher in Horn, Switzerland, near Lake Constance, where he died in 1997.

Maximilian Harden

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

Melchior Lussy

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

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.

Reichenau

Reichenau, Switzerland, part of the municipality Tamins, in Grisons, Switzerland

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.

Spanisch Brötli

Spanisch Brötli (Spanish bun, also known as Spanisch Brödli, Spanischbrötli or Spanischbrödli) is a speciality pastry from Baden, Switzerland.

Steve Locher

Steve Locher (born September 19, 1967 in Salins) is a former Swiss alpine skier, who won the bronze medal in the combined event at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville.

Swiss Republic

Switzerland, a country in central Europe, being a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons

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.

Varen

Varen, Switzerland, a municipality in the canton of Valais, Switzerland

World Council for Comparative Education Societies

WCCESS issues a Bulletin in Innovation, the publication of the International Bureau of Education in Geneva, Switzerland, and the CERCular, published by the Comparative Education Research Centre (University of Hong Kong).


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.

Andrist

There are two mountains called Andrist in Switzerland: Wild Andrist (means "wild Andrist") has an altitude of 2849 m asl; Zahm Andrist (means "tame Andrist") has an altitude of 2648 m asl.

Athena Xenidou

After receiving a Diploma in Music from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, London, Xenidou went on to study English Literature, Music and Theatre for two years at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.

Bern Symphony Orchestra

Reaching beyond Switzerland from the 1930s, the fame of the orchestra later attracted guest conductors including Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Ernest Ansermet, Hans Knappertsbusch, Ferenc Fricsay, Rafael Kubelík, Günter Wand, Kurt Sanderling, Horst Stein, Yuri Ahronovitch and Eliahu Inbal.

Bernard Fellay

After his ordination, he was named Bursar General of the SSPX and was stationed at Rickenbach, the headquarters of the SSPX in Switzerland.

Bommer

Bommer Weiher, lake near Alterswilen in the municipality of Kemmental, Canton of Thurgau, Switzerland

Brünig

The Brünig railway line, a railway line in Switzerland linking Interlaken and Lucerne

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.

Bungee jumping

Several major movies have featured bungee jumps, most famously the opening sequence of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye in which Bond makes a jump over the edge of a dam in Russia (in reality the dam is in Switzerland: Verzasca Dam, and the jump was genuine, not an animated special effect).

Cavaglio-Spoccia

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

Cetraro

According to Fonti a manager of Enea paid the clan to get rid of 600 drums of toxic and radioactive waste from Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, and the US, with Somalia as the destination, where the waste was buried after buying off local politicians.

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.

Crossair Europe

Crossair Europe (European Continental Airways) was an airline headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland.

Erich von Hornbostel

He moved first to Switzerland, then the United States, and finally to Cambridge in England, where he worked on an archive of non-European folk music recordings.

Ernest Failloubaz

In January 1911 Failloubaz received his new aircraft from Armand Dufaux, a Dufaux 5 biplane, later he acquired the licence to build it in Switzerland as Failloubaz-Licence Dufaux.

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.

Friedrich Frey-Herosé

Friedrich Frey-Herosé (12 October 1801, Lindau - 22 September 1873) was a Swiss politician.

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.

Health insurance premium index

In Switzerland the Health insurance premium index is compiled by the Federal Social Insurance Office (for the basic health insurance) and by the Federal Statistical Office (for the field of supplementary insurances).

Heinrich von Siebold

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

Heliswiss

During the following years Heliswiss expanded in Switzerland and formed a network with bases in Belp BE, Samedan GR, Domat Ems GR, Locarno TI, Erstfeld UR, Gampel VS, Gstaad BE and Gruyères FR.

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.

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.

Italian irredentism in Savoy

On 16 March 1860, the provinces of Northern Savoy (Chablais, Faucigny and Genevois) sent to Victor Emmanuel II, to Napoleon III, and to the Swiss Federal Council a declaration - sent under the presentation of a manifesto together with petitions - where they were saying that they did not wish to become French and shown their preference to remain united to the Kingdom of Sardinia (or be annexed to Switzerland in the case a separation with Piedmont was unavoidable).

Jean Rénald Clérismé

Clérsimé was ambassador of Haiti to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Trade Center (ITC), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland, from 2001 to 2003.

Jean-Marie Londeix

Some famous saxophone players that have studied with him include Richard Dirlam, Perry Rask, Russell Peterson, Ryo Noda, James Umble, Robert Black, Ross Ingstrup, Juan Carlos Mazás, William Street, Christian Lauba and Jack Kripl - Winner of the prize for Saxophone at the International Competition for Musical Performers in Geneva Switzerland, 1970.

Kola Adedoyin

Disaster again struck a couple of weeks later when he ruptured ankle ligaments in Geneva, Switzerland 6 weeks before the World Junior Championships.

Konstanz

Konstanz station is served by the Upper Rhine Railway running west to Singen with connections to all parts of Germany, and the Etzwilen–Konstanz line running south into Switzerland, connecting to major routes at Weinfelden.

Léman Manhattan Preparatory School

Léman Manhattan has two sister schools, Léman International School in Chengdu, China and Collège du Léman in Geneva, Switzerland.

Linthstrasse

Linthstrasse is a stadium in Tuggen, Canton Schwyz, 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.

Lloyd Noel Ferguson

While affiliated with Howard University, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1953 and an NSF grant in 1960 that allowed him to travel to the Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen, Denmark, and to ETH Zurich in Switzerland.

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).

Max Arias-Schreiber Pezet

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

Oliver St John

He retired to his country house in Northamptonshire till 1662, when he left England and went to Basel, Switzerland and afterwards to Augsburg, Germany.

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.

Schaan

The municipality includes the Naafkopf, one of the two tripoints between Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Austria.

Sewa Beats

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

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.

Swiss Civilian Service

Civilian service is a Swiss institution, created in 1996 as an alternative to military service.

Sydney Thompson Dobell

Next year he travelled through Switzerland with his wife; and after his return he formed friendships with Robert Browning, Philip Bailey, George MacDonald, Emanuel Deutsch, Lord Houghton, Ruskin, Holman Hunt, Mazzini, Tennyson and Carlyle.

Tecan

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

Wafah Dufour

Her father, Yeslam bin Ladin (half brother of Osama bin Laden), is Saudi Arabian (father of Yemeni origin and mother of Iranian origin) and her mother, Carmen bin Ladin, is of Swiss father and Iranian mother from a noble family (mothers name: Mirdoth/Sheybani).