r/HistoryofSwitzerland

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.

Read more on our blog.

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/