The slate mines around Frutigen provided the material for millions of slate boards used by schoolchildren. Thanks to the hard work of the miners, the product found its way from the remote mines to classrooms in Europe and further afield. Read more: https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/en/2026/05/from-the-slate-mine-to-the-classroom/
Composer Franz Liszt created his own image of Switzerland in his famous work ‘Années de pèlerinage’. Poems and illustrations accompanied his music.
Instances of kidney disease spiked in the Jura mountains during the 1960s. This was the legacy of the local watchmakers’ decades-long penchant for painkillers. https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/en/2026/05/bread-rolls-and-painkillers-for-breakfast/
Eighty years ago, the residents of two Swiss mountain valleys managed to avert two huge reservoir projects. In Rheinwald, an early citizen movement took hold, while in the Urseren valley, it took a full-blown riot. It was the first time the people really stood up and reined in technology.
Harald Feller was kidnapped by the Soviets in Budapest in 1945. While he languished in Stalin's prisons for a year, Swiss authorities placed him under investigation. After his return, Feller was cleared of all charges. But nobody was interested anymore.
Read more: https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/en/2026/05/a-swiss-diplomat-in-stalins-jail/
Glarus holds its People’s Assembly every first Sunday in May. This tradition goes back to the early days of democracy in the Middle Ages.
Zwischen weidenden Kühen auf grünen Hügeln stand im Frühling 1972 am Fusse des Kurzenbergs ein 45 Meter hoher Bohrturm. Sein Bohrkopf drang kilometertief in die Gesteinsschichten – auf der Suche nach dem «schwarzen Gold». https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/2026/04/auf-erdoelsuche-am-kurzenberg/