Awesome, majestic, the Alps, Heidi, cowbells, Swiss Cheese and chocolate
Quick Facts:
Capital City:
Bern
Population:
7.7 million, divided between 26 semi-independent cantons (townships, voting districts) with populations ranging from 15,000 to over one million.
Area:
41.285 sq. km
Currency:
Swiss Franc (1CHF=0.68EUR)
Languages:
Four official languages: German (Swiss German, not too different from German), French, Italian, Romansh (a local dialect spoken by only .05% of the population in a southeastern canton;
Religion:
Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Muslim 4.3%
Borders: (Land and Sea)
Switzerland is landlocked; Germany to the North, France to the West, Italy to the South and Austria and Liechtenstein to the East
Landscape:
Switzerland comprises three basic topographical areas: the Swiss Alps, the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Plateau; waterfalls and glaciers; the more populous Northern part of the country is still hilly, but has more fields, pastures, grazing herds and vegetable/fruit fields
Rivers:
Several rivers such as the Rhine and the Rhone flow through the Alps, emptying finally in Lake Geneva(largest), Lake Neuchatel and Lake Zurich
Mountains:
Switzerland is an alpine country; the Alps comprise about 60% of the country’s total area; the Dufourspitze is the highest peak (15,203 feet); the Matterhorn is the most famous mountain (it’s an iconic emblem of Switzerland), also has the luxurious St. Moritz region
Main Cities:
Zurich (Switzerland's largest city, ranked 1st on 2006 World’s Best Quality of Life; Switzerlan'd business centre, many Swiss Banks, including UBS and Credit Suisse, are based here)
Geneva (ranked behind only Zurich in Quality of Life index; known as “The Peace Capital” because many international humanitarian agencies, namely the UN and Red Cross, are based here; site of the Geneva Conventions, which laid out the protocol for treatment of people during war)
Quirky Facts:
-It was once against the law to slam a car door in city centres
-Swiss Law prevents people to mow their front lawns dressed as Elvis Presley
-In 1957, the BBC pulled an April Fools trick, a 3-minute piece about the harvest of spaghetti trees in Switzerland. Biggest media hoax of all time; spaghetti wasn’t common in Britain at the time, so hundreds phoned in asking about how to cultivate their own spaghetti trees.
-The first acid trip was taken by a Swiss scientist while trying to develop a cure for migraines
History
Head back to the 13th century to see how Switzerland, as we know it, began.
Everything was ticking along well in the 13th century. Craftsmen from different cantons were developing new tools, producing goods and trading with each other.
When the Habsbug Emperors from Austria sat up and took notice of this developing area, in 1291, the Swiss Confederation was founded as a defensive alliance among three cantons against them. In succeeding years, other localities joined the original three.
The Swiss National Hero William Tell comes into play here.
William Tell lived in the canton of Uri (one of the original three), and was known as an expert marksman with the crossbow.
At the time, the Habsburgs were seeking to dominate Uri. Herman Gessler, an Austrian bailiff, raised a pole in the village's central square, hung his hat on top of it, and demanded that all the local townsfolk bow before the hat. When Tell passed by the hat without bowing to it, he was arrested. He received the punishment of being forced to shoot an apple off the head of his son, Walter, or else both would be executed. Tell had been promised freedom if he successfully shot the apple.
On 18 November 1307, Tell split the fruit with a single bolt from his crossbow. When Gessler queried him about the purpose of a second bolt in his quiver, Tell answered that if he had killed his son, he would have turned the crossbow on Gessler himself. Gessler became enraged at that comment, and had Tell bound and brought to his ship to be taken to his castle in Austria. But when a storm broke on Lake Lucerne, Tell managed to escape, found Gessler, and shot him with his crossbow.
Tell's defiance of Gessler sparked a rebellion, leading to the formation of the Swiss Confederation.
More cantons eventually joined the confederacy, bringing the total to 26 today, and they have worked well together. Their political system was, and still is, based on compromise, in religious, political and social matters. This compromise began during The Reformation in the 1500s, when there was a deep division between Catholics and Protestants in Switzerland but through compromise, they managed to work out their issues and stay together as a country.
John Calvin
John Calvin came from France to Geneva, and was a major figure of the Reformation. His main ideas were that life (and entry into Heaven) is pre-destined (very comforting for those who were trying to keep the faith under persecution). Geneva became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, and regular influxes of Protestant refugees arrived from France, Spain, England, and other places where they were being persecuted.
The Confederation collapsed only once, during the French Revolution in 1798, when Napoleon became guardian of Switzeland and tried to change the order of things by centralizing the power in Switzerland, instead of letting the semi-independent cantons retain a say in their own matters. But they found their way back together, and in 1814, the current Swiss boundaries were fixed.
Neutrality
Famous Swiss Neutrality made its first appearance during the Thirty Years' War (1618-48), when the Swiss remained neutral while civil wars flared around them, particularly in Germany, particularly between the French monarchy and the Habsburgs.
During World War I (1914-18), Switzerland once again maintained its neutrality.
In August 1939, on the eve of World War II (1939-45), Switzerland, fearing an invasion, ordered a mobilization of its defense forces. But an invasion never came, even though Switzerland was surrounded by Germany and its allies. It proved convenient to everyone to have, in the middle of a continent in conflict, a neutral nation through which they could deal with each other. It also indicated to Hitler that it was determined to defend itself, and convinced Nazi Germany that any invader would pay in blood for every foot of ground gained in Switzerland.
Swiss Banks
It is because of their neutrality that they were able to develop their famous Banking System. Switzerland was a stable and trustworthy place for people worldwide to keep their funds. 1/3 of all funds kept outside the country of origin (known as “offshore funds”) are held in Swiss Banks. Switzerland views its banking system’s privacy as important as other countries view the doctor/patient relationship.
But Switzerland came under fire for possibly allowing Nazis to set up bank accounts with blood money, stolen goods, etc. It had to pay billions to the families of Jews killed in the Holocaust.
Today they take steps to make sure that nothing fraudlent happens in their banks under the guise of privacy. A judge can issue an order to get the privacy lifted if needed in cases of tax fraud/evasion. The Swiss are also very cooperative with authorities to stop money laundering or fraud; they recently cooperated with the FBI to target the financing of terrorist/Al Qaeda cells.
Neutrality and International Organizations
The sense of neutrality remains so strong that even as recently 1992, rejected joining the EU. They only joined the UN in 2002, leaving behind decades of isolationism.
The Swiss are known for their humanitarianism, and despite of their neutrality (or possibly because of it), several international organizations are housed here, including the Red Cross and UN Human Rights Council, also the WTO,UEFA, FIFA and the International Olympic Committee.
The Red Cross was founded in Switzerland: Henri Dunant, a Swiss merchant, was shocked to learn about the fate of wounded soldiers in the Austrian-French war in 1859. In 1862 he wrote a book about it. and in 1864 the Swiss government organized an international conference on humanitarian aspects during war. 12 nations signed the Geneva conventions and established the Red Cross as a permanent, neutral institution to take care of military and civil persons wounded or imprisoned in war.
Swiss Military
Speaking of war... at the same time that Switzerland staunchly defends their neutrality, and promotes their humanitarianism, they are extremely prepared for any type of attack.
All male citizens at 20 years old are conscripted into a type of militia. They don’t have the same rankings as other countries, with Majors and Generals, etc. unless it’s wartime, or unless they’re involved in peacekeeping missions abroad, to put them on equal footing with foreign officers.
(And, interestingly, Michelangelo designed the uniforms for the Swiss Guard back in the day)
Switzerland also has fallout shelters all over the country. The Swiss built a network of them after the Cold War, with a capability to house and feed 114% Swiss population for two years after a nuclear or biological attack; Switzerland has the highest ration of space to population of any other country. There are also hospitals and command centres in such shelters, aimed at keeping the country running in case of emergencies. Every family or rental agency has to pay a replacement tax to support these shelters, or alternatively own a personal shelter in their place of residence. For several years, these shelters were being neglected or turned into gyms, wine cellars, etc. but there was a renewed interest in them after 2001.
Economy and Industry:
The fact that Switzerland has not been involved in the squabbles of any of its neighbours has led it to unprecedented financial and industrial growth. Many social-welfare programs were introduced, unemployment was virtually wiped out, and the country moved into an enviable position of wealth and prosperity.
Despite a dearth of natural resources, the Swiss economy is among the worlds most advanced and prosperous. Per capita income is virtually the highest in the world, as are wages. Trade has been the key to prosperity in Switzerland. In 2005, the average household income was around $80,000USD. About 25% of the adult population holds a diploma of higher learning. They are environmentally conscious, with a 0% carbon footprint.
Switzerland is very technologically advanced: in 1989, HTML was designed at the European Nuclear Research Centre in Switzerland, thus the “Internet was born”.
The Swiss are competitive, and two of their most famous products were born out of wanting to one-up other the inventions of other countries:
Swiss Army Knives: Originated in 1897, by a surgical equipment company who wanted to compete with a similar German model. The name was coined by US officers, who received the tool in huge numbers on their navy bases and couldn’t pronounce the original Swiss name. The tools that have featured on Swiss Army Knives include: tweezers, toothpick, corkscrew, can opener, bottle opener, screwdriver, nail file, scissors, saw, file, hook, magnifying glass, ballpoint pen, fish scaler, pliers, key chain. Recent technological features: USB stick, digital clock, LED light, laser pointer, MP3 Player. Wenger has manufactured a $1400 Swiss army knife that includes every implement the company has ever made.
Watches: The Swiss invented the wristwatch back in 1868. The SWATCH watch was invented in 1981 and sold more than 100 million units within 10 years. It was invented to combat the introduction of the digital watch by the Japanese.
People
Famous people: Tennis stars Roger Federer, Martina Hingis. Albert Einstein lived and worked in Switzerland.
Traditionalism: The Swiss are very traditional. No work on Sundays, and there is an organization to protect traditional dress. A traditional farmer and herder culture also predominates in many areas and small farms are omnipresent outside the cities. Folk art is kept alive in organizations all over the country. In Switzerland it is mostly expressed in music,dance, poetry,wood carving and embroidery. The alphorn, a trumpet- like musical instrument made of wood, has become, alongside yodeling and the accordion, an epitome of traditional Swiss music.
Yodelling is another example of their traditionalism: in Alpine folk music, it was probably developed in the Swiss and Austrian Alps as a method of communication between mountain peaks, later becoming part of the region's traditional music. The best places for Alpine-style yodeling are those with an echo. Ideal natural locations include not only mountain ranges, but lakes, rocky gorges, or shorelines, and high or open areas with one or more distant rock faces.
Food and Drink
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Rosti:Switzerland was for a long time a country of farmers, so their specialties involve potatoes and cheese.
Swiss Cheese: Gruyere, Emmental are popular Swiss cheeses. The Swiss Cheese Union managed the export of cheese and made it world-famous, although Ohio is now the biggest manufacturer of Swiss Cheese. Cheese making is an integral part of the Swiss heritage. Cattle breeding and dairy farming, concentrated in the alpine areas of the country, have been associated with the region for 2,000 years, since the Romans were there. Today, more than 100 different varieties of cheese are produced in Switzerland. The cheeses, however, are not mass produced -- they're made in hundreds of small, strictly controlled dairies, each under the direction of a master cheese maker with a federal degree. The cheese with the holes, known as Swiss or Emmenthal, has been widely copied, since nobody ever thought to protect the name for use only on cheeses produced in the Emme Valley until it was too late.
Fondue: Cheese fondue, which consists of cheese melted in white wine flavored with a soupçon of garlic and lemon juice, is the national dish of Switzerland.
Toblerone (from Bern)
Muesli: Invented in 1900 by a Swiss doctor to give patients in his hospital.
Ovalmatine: A typo in the North American patent office lead to it being called Ovaltine there.
Absinth: Originated in the canton of Neuchatel. It was created by a French doctor living there in the 18th century, then given to French soldiers for treatment against malaria. It was brought into France when those troops returned home and became popular with artists (Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec), nicknamed "The Green Fairy." Absinthe was banned in Switzerland in 1907 (after a Swiss man murdered his family, and it was reported that he drank two glasses of absinthe in the morning, although the fact that he drank much more than that throughout the day was ignored. It was only legalized again in 2005.
Language Tips
Hello: Hallo
Goodbye: Auf Wiedersehen
Please: Bitte
Thank You: DankeExcuse Me/Sorry: Entschuldigung Me
Yes: Ja
No: Nein
Do you speak English?: Sprechen Sie Englisch
Where is?: Wo? ist
How much? Wieviel?
One: EinTwo: Zwei
Three: Drei
Four: Vier
Five: Funf
Water: Wasser
Beer: Bier
Wine: Wein
Cheers!: Beifall! Prost!
Population:
