SWISS REVIEW the Magazine for the Swiss Abroad March 2018
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SWISS REVIEW The magazine for the Swiss Abroad March 2018 900 varieties of beer – boom time for local breweries CHF 1 million for the coastguard – Switzerland’s contribution to Libya CHF 70,000 for each new family – a village in Valais makes headlines th 96 Congress of the Swiss Abroad in Visp From 10-12 August 2018, the 96th Congress of the Swiss Abroad will take place with panoramic views of the mountains of Valais. Join the discussion about the Congress’ topic on SwissCommu- nity.org: «Switzerland without Europe – Europe without Swit- zerland». Further information is available on page 22 of this magazine and on our website www.aso-kongress.ch. SwissCommunity.org is a social network set up by the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) Tourism Visp / © Christian Pfammatter Photo SwissCommunity-Partner: Contents Editorial 3 Buying local 5 Mailbag Wine from Australia, fruit from the Caribbean and meat from Argentina – it is not so long ago that peo- 6 Focus ple thought the further a product travelled, the better Boom in regional brewing it was. The world was becoming ever more intercon- nected, and there was an element of modernity about 10 Politics consuming exotic foreign products. It was as if people Referendums on 10 June did not want to miss out on the opportunities and ab- Swiss aid in Libya surdities of globalisation in their everyday lives. Today, the opposite seems to be true – the nearer a product is made, the bet- Controversy over CHF 1 million cohe- ter. There has been a sustainable improvement in awareness of “integrity of sion contribution origin” and local products over the past ten years. It is not just a question of 16 Economy environmental protection. What is the ecological footprint of a bottle of wine that has flown halfway around the world? It is also down to people taking an Esoro’s hydrogen-powered truck interest in their immediate surroundings and, ultimately, perhaps even showing greater awareness of their own origins. News from around the world This trend has led many Swiss food producers to shift to local specialities. 17 Literature series They are typified by regional cheese, bread and wine. There is huge demand A Swiss writer in the jungle for varieties of apple from the local area and if the meat at the butcher’s comes of south-east Asia from the neighbouring village, consumers are willing to pay a bit extra. This trend has also encompassed beer. Instead of drinking foreign or na- 18 Society tional beers, the Swiss are increasingly opting for small regional brands. The Fritz Osterwalder and the protests of number of local breweries has risen to over 900. This boom is also partly at- 1968 – 50 years on tributable to the collapse of the large beer cartel in 1991, a subject explored by this issue’s focus article. But the extent to which appreciation of regional Albinen seeking new residents products – including beer – has increased in Switzerland over the last dec- 22 OSA news ade is astonishing and pleasing in equal measure. MARKO LEHTINEN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 25 news.admin.ch 28 Images 30 Books / Sounds 31 Top pick / News Cover photo: Local beer is enjoying growing popularity in Switzerland. Image: iStock Swiss Review / March 2018 / No. 2 “SWISS REVIEW” – THE APP IS JUST THREE CLICKS AWAY! Get “Swiss Review” free as an app! It’s really easy: 1. Open the store on your smartphone or tablet. 2. Enter the search term “Swiss Review”. 3. Tap on install – all done! SWISS REVIEW The magazine for the Swiss Abroad March 2018 SWISS REVIEW The magazine for the Swiss Abroad March 2018 900 varieties of beer – boom time for local breweries CHF 1 million for the coastguard – Switzerland’s contribution to Libya CHF 70,000 for each new family – a village in Valais makes headlines 900 varieties of beer – boom time for local breweries CHF 1 million for the coastguard – Switzerland’s contribution to Libya CHF 70,000 for each new family – a village in Valais makes headlines SWISS REVIEW MIET-PW, MIET-Camper, MIET-4x4 Ilgauto ag, 8500 Frauenfeld 200 Autos, 40 Modelle, ab Fr. 500.-/MT inkl. 2000Km 61 11 Tel. 0041 52 7203060 / www.ilgauto.ch Mailbag 5 Switzerland’s digital transformation No Billag and a fight for survival. The objectives of e-government The Swiss media industry is undergoing a stress test The problem is receiving voting documents by post a week af- The assumption that competition and the market econ- ter the referendum date, which is what happened to some omy are always the best solution is a falsehood. Competi- Swiss friends and me for the referendum held on 24 Septem- tion and the market economy always ber 2017. I sent an email to Switzerland requesting that the and everywhere favour the financially voter identification card be sent to me electronically so that I powerful, so we end up with the likes could cast my vote in time. I received a reply saying that this of Christoph Blocher and Silvio Ber- was not possible for legal reasons. I don’t know whether the lusconi. KLEMENS GRAF, GERMANY blame lies with the Swiss authorities or the Thai postal ser- vice. KARL WICKI, THAILAND The “Davos” sledge – a Swiss classic. Experience shows that ordinary mail is becoming slower and A visit to a sledge-maker slower. People living in South Africa can tell a similar tale of voting documents failing to arrive on time. Switzerland is I’m 82 years old now but I sat on a “Davos” sledge lagging behind by 20 years! I personally have de-registered for the first time at the age of two. It was the with my communal authority for elections and referendums. number 1 sledge! ERWIN F. SIEGLER, SWITZERLAND I would rather give up my rights than get annoyed four times a year. HANS BEAT SCHWEIZER, SOUTH AFRICA Nevin Galmarini HIF 2018 Olympic Champion 2017 World Cup winner Professional Snowboarder and former student of the HIF Sports Academy WE BRING YOU TO THE TOP SUCCESS IN SCHOOL AND SPORTS Swiss Matura / IB / Cambridge IGCSE Integration Year / Language school Summer School INTERNATIONAL BOARDING SCHOOL AND SPORTS ACADEMY OF SWITZERLAND Hochalpines Institut Ftan - contact @hif.ch - HIF.CH Swiss Review / March 2018 / No. 2 6 Focus Every district has its own beer The bottle cap comes off with a “pop”, the beer flows into the glass, bubbles rise and a frothy head forms. There is nowhere with such a wide range of beers as Switzerland. It now has the largest con- centration of breweries in the world. This can be seen partly as a response to the major crisis in the Swiss beer industry and the demise of many traditional brands. MARC LETTAU was also shopping in Switzerland at the same time. The The seat of Swiss national government is ideally posi- Grissons beer “Calanda Bräu”, for example, is Dutch strictly tioned as far as beer goes. Anyone who dines at the Galerie speaking. “Eichhof” beer from Lucerne is also part of the des Alpes restaurant in the Federal Palace will not only Heineken empire. The futility of taking a stand became ev- see the Alps but also have an unobstructed view of the ident in Lucerne. Students from the Federal Institute of brewery site at the foot of the Gurten mountain, home to Technology in Zurich launched a computer game at the the traditional Bernese “Gurten” beer. However, it is not time called “The Last Eichhof”, the aim of which was to pre- served in the Federal Palace despite the view. Thirsty MPs vent a hostile takeover with lots of shooting. It was all in and Federal Councillors have the choice between other lo- vain, but grumblings about the globalisation of the beer cal beers from Burgdorf and Einsiedeln. The brewery in market became louder. Gurten has actually been consigned to the past. Today the Today, a generation on, the picture is completely differ- site houses fantastic residential accommodation and in- ent. Over 60 % of the beer consumed in Switzerland comes novative companies. The brewery founded in 1864 from breweries controlled by Carlsberg (Feldschlösschen) quenched the thirst of the federal capital for over a cen- and Heineken (Eichhof, Calanda). However, hundreds of tury. The company then got caught up in an economic small-scale setups and microbreweries have emerged to downturn. In 1970, it was taken over by the Feldschlöss- take on the global multinationals. While Switzerland had chen Group, the largest brewery in Switzerland. This com- just 31 operational breweries in 1991, there are over 900 to- pany currently brews a beer called “Gurten” at its com- day. No other country in the world has such a dense con- pany headquarters in Rheinfelden, Aargau. centration of breweries in relation to its population. All the This story typifies the general situation. It has been niche players are shaking up the market with an estimated much worse elsewhere than in stately Berne. In Fribourg, 5,000 different beers. the collapse of the Cardinal brewery, which was established in 1788, sparked a major crisis in the canton. When Cardi- From “Öufi” to “Sierrvoise” nal closed down after struggling for years, Fribourg’s gov- ernment at the time was “shocked” and its president Beat Local patriotic sentiment seems to have surfaced across the Vonlanthen expressed “deep sadness” at the loss of some- country. Solothurn today mainly drinks “Öufi” beer and thing that belonged to the canton and symbolised its own extols the virtues of number 11 which is celebrated as the economic history. Cardinal only lives on as a name – on town’s special number (“öuf” means “eleven”).