Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Today's briefing is very Swiss. First, it's about the Unspunnen stone, a symbol of Swiss tradition and of tensions between cantons Bern and Jura. The legendary stone had disappeared without trace since 2005 - but now there's news that it’s been found.
Then there’s the famous Swiss dilemma: Migros or Coop? To cool things down, we talk about the weather and the new, stricter tobacco law.
Best wishes from Bern
A new chapter in the story of the Unspunnen stone: anonymous pictures show the buried stone.
Are you familiar with the Unspunnen stone? The 83.5-kg round stone is named after Switzerland’s most revered stone-throwing contest. It has been tossed at celebrations of folklore and national heritage for a century, and is one of the country’s most cherished cultural objects. In the 1980s, it also became a symbol of the tensions between the cantons of Bern and Jura. In 1984, Jura separatists stole the stone. It was returned in 2001, only to be stolen again in 2005. Since then, there has been no trace of it.
But now the stone has reportedly reappeared – on the front page of the daily newspaper Le Quotidien Jurassien. The Jura newspaper has received anonymous pictures of the stone, which was shot together with an edition of the newspaper from August 26, 2024.
Editor-in-chief Rémy Chételat and his team believe the images are genuine. A participant in the last Unspunnen contest, Klaus, has also confirmed that the stone in the photo is the real one. But the photos do not show its precise location. “Perhaps it is no longer on Jura soil,” says Chételat. The Interlaken Gymnastics Club would still like to have the stone returned, Swiss public radio, SRF, reported on June 3 to mark the 40th anniversary of the first theft.
Report on RTSExternal link (in French)
More
Coop or Migros? The question that continues to divide Switzerland.
You probably have your favourite supermarket products that you like to buy when you visit Switzerland. Where do you go: to Migros or Coop? This question continues to divide the nation. Today, the Tages-Anzeiger has a major survey on which retailer is the most popular.
When it comes to market share in Switzerland, Migros is ahead, with 35.6% in 2023 and Coop just behind at 33.3%. In terms of annual sales, however, Coop is the winner (CHF35 billion), with Migros significantly lower (CHF28.1 billion). Sales for both retailers come not only from the food business, but also from various other businesses such as electrical appliances, furniture and travel.
Coop has more organic products, but the rumour persists that when you buy the same item it costs more at Coop than at Migros.
Then if you compare the wages they pay their staff, Coop and Migros (CHF4,200 per month) both lag behind the German discounters Aldi (CHF4,700) and Lidl (CHF4,550). However, Migros is the clear winner in one specific category: according to a ranking, it is much more popular with the Swiss than Coop.
Article on Tages-AnzeigerExternal link (paywall)
Personalised weather forecasts by private companies are becoming popular in Switzerland as the weather gets increasingly unpredictable.
This summer, extreme weather incidents have caused major damage in some parts of Switzerland. The unpredictable weather is also a problem for cultural and sporting events. As Swiss public radio, RTS, reports today many are seeking out personalised weather forecasts, which have become a booming business for private weather services.
The Plage des Six Pompes festival in La Chaux-de-Fonds, which was cancelled in July 2023 due to a devastating storm, pays several thousand Swiss francs for a personalised weather programme from the Meteonews service. “This means we don’t have to be behind our mobile phones every day, use different apps and assess the risk ourselves,” says one of the organisers.
Robin Métrailler, a student from canton Valais who provides local weather news, is followed by 111,000 people on Facebook. “On stormy days, I receive up to 1,000 messages within 24 hours,” he says. He believes that our society will have an ever-increasing need for personalised forecasts.
Article on RTSExternal link (in French)
New Swiss tobacco law: cigarette advertising disappears from public spaces.
In some Swiss regions children were in theory able to buy cigarettes until last night. In cantons Schwyz and Appenzell Inner Rhodes, for example, there was no legal age of consent. But from today the new tobacco law applies across the country: all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and snuff, may only be sold to people over 18.
Changes have also been introduced concerning tobacco advertising. These will disappear from public spaces and tobacco adverts will no longer be permitted on public property. Festivals may no longer be sponsored by tobacco companies and free promotional gifts related to tobacco consumption will also be banned.
The new law also aims to provide better protection against passive smoking. This will have an impact at railway stations, for example, where smokers of e-cigarettes will now also have to stand in the specially designated areas.
Photo of the day
Back to the weather… it didn’t quite play ball on the Jungfraujoch today. A kick-off event for the 2025 UEFA Women’s Championship, EURO 2025, which will be held in Switzerland, took place on the mountain saddle connecting the Jungfrau and Monch peaks in the Bernese Alps. But snow had to be cleared before a planned penalty shoot-out.
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