!"#$$%&''()* ĨĂĐƚƐ Θ ĮŐƵƌĞƐ ĂďŽƵƚ ^ǁŝƚnjĞƌůĂŶĚ ŝĐĐŽŶ ĞǁĞƐ !"#$$%&''()* ĨĂĐƚƐ Θ ĮŐƵƌĞƐ ĂďŽƵƚ ^ǁŝƚnjĞƌůĂŶĚ ŝĐĐŽŶ ĞǁĞƐ © 2012 Bergli Books, Basel © cover and illustrations Mischa Kammermann, Basel Bergli Books Tel.: +41 61 373 27 77 CH-4001 Basel e-mail: [email protected] Switzerland www.bergli.ch All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing from Bergli Books, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland. ISBN 978-3-905252-47-7 digital edition ISBN 978-3-905252-24-8 print edition For Georgie, Thomas Rhian and Olivia &ŽƌĞǁŽƌĚ Look up miscellany in a dictionary and you’ll see that it is a group, collection or mixture of different items, ingredients or things. As a noun it’s far less used than the adjective derived from it – miscellaneous – which is probably why the British and Americans can’t agree on how to pronounce it: I say mis-sel-la- nee, stressing the ‘sel’; they say mis-sa-lay-nee, stressing the ‘lay’. Collection is probably easier. This Swiss miscellany is a collection of curious and quirky, statistical and historical, intriguing and interesting facts about Switzerland. It is a subjective look at a unique country and its people, but not an utterly comprehensive one. You can discover how much yoghurt an average Swiss person eats each year but QRW ZKLFK ÁDYRXUV RU ZKR ZDV HOHFWHG SUHVLGHQW WKH PRVW WLPHV but not who voted for him, and even the most successful pop songs but not why anyone bought them. So just dive in and maybe discover a few things about Switzerland you never knew. At the very least, you’ll be able to sing along to the Swiss national anthem, even if no-one else does. Swisscellany 6 Diccon Bewes ^ǁŝƚnjĞƌůĂŶĚ ŝŶ ƌŝĞĨ (134th in the world, similar to The Area 41,285km! Netherlands) Population 7,870,100 (95th in the world, similar to Israel) Boundary 1,899km Border with Italy 744km France 572km Germany 362km Austria 180km Liechtenstein 41km Place furthest from the Uttigen (BE), 69km national border Highest point Dufourspitze* 4634m Lowest point Ascona 193m Average height 1307m Distance north to south 224km Northernmost point (SH) 47° 48’ 30” N, 8° 34’ 5” E Southernmost point (TI) 45° 49’ 4” N, 9° 1’ 0.8” E Midpoint of Switzerland Älggialp (OW) 46° 48’ 4” N, 8° 13’ 36” E Distance west to east 352km Westernmost point (GE) 46° 7’ 56” N, 5° 57’ 21” E Easternmost point (GR) 46° 36’ 55” N, 10° 29’ 32” E *Also known as Monte Rosa ŝĚLJŽƵŬŶŽǁ͍ If Switzerland were ironed out so that it was all at the same elevation, its surface area would increase by 5,200km2 or 12.5% – equivalent to adding another canton the size of Valais. 7 Swisscellany ^ǁŝƐƐ ŽŶ ŽĂƌĚ ƚŚĞ +#,()#% The Titanic sank on 15 April 1912 with the loss of 1,514 lives. Of the 25 Swiss passengers and crew on board, 12 survived. Died on the Titanic Class Age "Charles Williams-White 1st 51 Josef Arnold-Franchi 3rd 25 -RVHÀQH $UQROG)UDQFKL 3rd 18 Aloisia Haas 3rd 24 Albert Wirz 3rd 27 Narciso Bazzi Crew 33 Joseph Bochatay Crew 30 Gérald Grosclaude Crew 24 Adolf Mattmann Crew 20 Alessandro Pedrini Crew 21 Abele Rigozzi Crew 22 Johannes Vögelin-Dubach Crew 35 Mario Zanetti Crew 20 ŝĚLJŽƵŬŶŽǁ͍ Born in Geneva, Richard Norris Williams II was an American tennis player who went on to win six Grand Slam titles, including the US Open men’s singles in 1914 and 1916, and a gold medal at the 1924 Olympic Games. 8 Diccon Bewes Survived on the Titanic Class Age Lived until Margaret Frölicher-Stehli 1st 48 1955 Maximilian Frölicher-Stehli 1st 60 1913 Margaritha Frölicher 1st 22 1972 Emma Sägesser 1st 24 1964 Alfons Simonius-Blumer 1st 56 1920 Max Staehelin-Maeglin 1st 32 1968 !Richard Norris Williams II 1st 21 1968 Marie Jerwan-Thuillard 2nd 23 1974 Bertha Lehmann 2nd 17 1967 "Anton Kink-Heilmann 3rd 29 1959 "Luise Kink-Heilmann 3rd 26 1979 !Luise Kink 3rd 4 1992 "Not a Swiss national but long-term resident in Switzerland. !Not a Swiss national but born in Switzerland. 9 Swisscellany ZŽŐĞƌ &ĞĚĞƌĞƌ͛Ɛ 'ƌĂŶĚ ^ůĂŵƐ Roger )HGHUHU KDV DSSHDUHG LQ *UDQG 6ODP ÀQDOV LQFOXGLQJ D record 10 consecutive ones, 2005 Wimbledon to 2007 US Open). Of the seven he lost, all were to Rafael Nadal except for the 2009 US Open, won by Juan Martin del Potro. He was also ranked as Number One men’s player for a record 237 consecutive weeks (February 2004 to August 2008). Wimbledon 2003 Mark Philippoussis (Aus) 7-6, 6-2, 7-6 2004 Andy Roddick (USA) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-4 2005 Andy Roddick (USA) 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 2006 Rafael Nadal (Spa) 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 2007 Rafael Nadal (Spa) 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 2009 Andy Roddick (USA) 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 Australian Open 2004 0DUDW 6DÀQ 5XV 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 2006 Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 2007 Fernando González (Chi) 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 2010 Andy Murray (UK) 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 10 Diccon Bewes US Open 2004 Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 6-0, 7-6, 6-0 2005 Andre Agassi (USA) 6-3, 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 2006 Andy Roddick (USA) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 2007 Novak Djokovic (Ser) 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 2008 Andy Murray (UK) 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 French Open 2009 Robin Söderling (Swe) 6-1, 7-6, 6-4 ŝĚ LJŽƵ ŬŶŽǁ͍ 7KH ÀUVW 6ZLVV SOD\HU WR ZLQ DQ\ *UDQG 6ODP WHQQLV WLWOH ZDV Heinz Günthardt, who won the 1981 French Open men’s doubles (with Balázs Taróczy of Hungary). He won again with the same partner at Wimbledon in 1985, along with two mixed doubles titles with Martina Navratilova (1985, French Open and US Open). ŝĚ LJŽƵ ŬŶŽǁ͍ Martina Hingis was born in Czechoslovakia but moved to Switzerland when she was seven. In 1996 she became the young- est ever winner of any Grand Slam tennis title by winning the women’s doubles at Wimbledon aged 15 years and 282 days. She won a total of 15 Grand Slam titles. 11 Swisscellany ŽŵŵƵŶŝƟĞƐ ďLJ ƌĞĂ There are 2,495 communities in Switzerland. Canton Bern has the most with 382, whereas Cantons Glarus and Basel-Stadt have only three each. The ten largest communities together make up an area almost the same size as Ticino. Ten largest Canton km! Population communities by area Glarus Süd GL 430.2 9,820 Davos GR 284.0 11,166 Bagnes VS 282.3 7,726 Bregaglia GR 251.5 1,601 Anniviers VS 243.0 2,617 Zermatt VS 242.7 5,720 Evolène VS 209.9 1,683 Zernez GR 203.9 1,140 Blenio TI 202.1 1,697 Guttannen BE 200.8 310 Ten smallest communities by area Rivaz VD 0.31 355 Kaiserstuhl AG 0.32 398 Gottlieben TG 0.33 300 Meyriez FR 0.34 600 Ponte Tresa TI 0.41 773 Carabietta TI 0.46 113 Paudex VD 0.48 1,393 Senèdes FR 0.50 122 Mauraz VD 0.50 54 Muralto TI 0.60 2,769 12 Diccon Bewes tŚĂƚ ƚŚĞ ^ǁŝƐƐ Ăƚ The average Swiss person ate a total of 709.8kg of food in 2010, or roughly 13.5kg a week. Dairy products constitute about 20% of the Swiss diet. kilo per year* kilo per year* Fresh 78.2 Sugar 40.5 vegetables Fresh fruit 77.6 Wine 36.5 Apples 17.7 Cheese 21.5 Bananas 9.2 Oil 18.8 Berries 6.8 Yoghurt 18.2 Milk 70.7 Fruit 12.8 juice Wheat 61.0 Eggs 10.8 Beer 56.7 Coffee 9.8 Meat 53.6 Fish 8.8 Pork 25.3 Cream 8.1 Beef 11.2 Rice 5.0 Poultry 11.0 Butter 5.4 Potatoes 45.6 Nuts 3.7 Sugar 40.5 Tea 0.3 *liquids are in litres per year ŝĚLJŽƵŬŶŽǁ͍ Switzerland has the world’s highest annual chocolate consump- tion – 11.9 kg per head. That’s about 33g a day. 13 Swisscellany dŚĞ &ĞĚĞƌĂů ŽƵŶĐŝů Switzerland’s government is a council of Seven Wise Men and (since 1984) Women elected by parliament. 115 Federal Councillors have been elected since the new constitution of 1848. The original Federal Council*, elected 16 November 1848 †Daniel-Henri Druey VD Department of Justice & Police †Stefano Franscini TI Department of Home Affairs Heidrich Frey-Herosé AG Department of Trade & Customs †Jonas Furrer ZH Political Department †Martin Munzinger SO Department of Finance Wilhelm Matthias SG Department of Posts & Naeff Construction Ulrich Ochsenbein BE Department of Defence & Military *all seven were from the FDP 6KRUWHVW WHUPV RI RIÀFH †Louis Perrier FDP NE 1912-1913 1 yr, 2 months, 4 days Rudolf Friedrich FDP ZH 1982-1984 1 yr, 10 months, 12 days Max Weber SP ZH 1951-1953 1 yr, 11 months, 25 days /RQJHVW WHUPV RI RIÀFH †Karl Schenk FDP BE 1863-1895 31 yrs, 7 months, 6 days †Adolf Deucher FDP TG 1883-1912 29 yrs, 3 months †Giuseppe Motta CVP TI 1911-1940 28 yrs, 1 month, 9 days † Died in office. First councillor from a party other than the FDP Joseph Zemp (CVP, LU) elected 1891 14 Diccon Bewes First female councillor Elisabeth Kopp (FDP, ZH) elected 1984 Only native Romansh speaker Felix Calonder (FDP, GR) elected 1913 Youngest Councillors elected Numa Droz FDP NE 1875 31 yrs, 10 months, 21 days -DNRE 6WlPSÁL FDP BE 1854 34 yrs, 9 months, 13 days Ruth Metzler-Arnold CVP AI 1999 34 yrs, 9 months, 16 days Oldest Councillors elected Gustave Ador LP GE 1917 71 yrs, 6 months, 3 days Josef Escher CVP VS 1950 64 yrs, 11 months, 28 days Christoph Blocher SVP ZH 2003 63 yrs, 1 month, 29 days Federal Councillors by canton 20 Zurich 14 Bern, Vaud 9 Neuchâtel 7Ticino 6Solothurn 5 Aargau, Geneva, Lucerne, St Gallen 4 Fribourg, Graubünden 3 Thurgau, Valais 2 Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Basel-Stadt, Zug 1 Basel-Land, Glarus, Obwalden Jura, Nidwalden, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, and Uri have never had a Federal Councillor elected.