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Switzerland from A to Z


  1. Aa: old German word for flowing water, name of many small brooks, hence Aare (Switzerland's third largest river) and Aargau (canton in northern Switzerland)
    Architecture: Switzerland has not only a rich heritage of historical archtitecture, there are also a couple of outstanding 20th century and contemporary Swiss archtitects

  2. Bern: Switzerland's capital. Like Washington D.C. or Quito (Ecuador), Bern is not the country's most important spot for business
    Basel: home of the pharmaceutical industry

  3. What does CH stand for?
    No, it's neither Swiss cheese nor Swiss chocolate, but rather
    Confoederatio Helvetica (CH), Switzerland's official latin name
    Cantons: Switzerland's federal states

  4. Direct Democracy: Unique Swiss form of government giving citizens a high degree of participation in law-making. Results in political stability, which proves to be a key factor for economic success.

  5. Emmental: Valley east of Bern, home of Emmentaler cheese (the typically Swiss cheese with big holes)

  6. French: second official language, spoken in the western part of the country
    Roger Federer, world's leading male tennis player

  7. Geneva: most important French speaking city, one of the European seats of the United Nations Organization and home of countless international organizations.
    German: first official language spoken in the northern and central parts of the country

  8. Helvetia: short form of latin name.
    Heidi: most popular female Swiss person abroad, though ficticious.

  9. Italian: third official language spoken in the southern part of the country
    Interlaken: touristic center for the Bernese Oberland region

  10. Jura: mountain chain in western Switzerland, hence Jurassic period in geology, the time when dinosaurs dominated the world.
    Carl Gustav Jung: Swiss psychologist

  11. Gottfried Keller: Most important Swiss writer in the 19th century, famous for his short stories.
    Swiss Army Knife: a famous multipurpose pocket tool

  12. Lucerne: major city in central Switzerland

  13. Matterhorn: best known mountain peak of the Alps (though not the highest one)

  14. A broad diversity of quality Newspapers and freedom of press have a long tradition

  15. Olten: railway hub between Basel, Bern, Lucerne and Zurich

  16. Perfectionism: probably the most typical vice of the Swiss

  17. High quality and precision are still attributes of many Swiss products.

  18. Rumantsch: forth official language spoken in the southeastern part of the country

  19. Schwyz, one of the three cantons founding the Swiss confederacy back in 1291 gave its name and flag (both with slight variation) to the confederation as a whole.

  20. William Tell: national hero.

  21. Unemployment: is regarded as the major problem by the population, though unemployment rates are far below the European average.

  22. Vevey: home of Swiss chocolate

  23. Swiss Watches: one of the classical Swiss products
    Winterthur: sixth largest city, always a little bit in the shadow of mighty Zurich. For quite some Swiss, the regions east of Winterthur seem to be somewhat "terra incognita".
    Swiss Webcams

  24. Xmas: the most important public holiday. Public live - except for public transport allowing people to visit their relatives - comes almost to a standstill

  25. Yodeling: a singing technique characterized by rapidly switching from the normal chest voice to the head voice (falsetto). Typical, but not unique, to traditional Swiss folklore music. Most Swiss people are not used to singing in this way, however.
    Dr. Alexandre Yersin, 1863 - 1943, Swiss physician, discovered the pestilence bacillus in 1894, developped a serum against it in 1896

  26. Zurich: Largest city, financial and industrial center




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