Embassy of Switzerland in Finland / Sveitsin Suurlähetystö Suomessa

06/09/2026

Switzerland is home to some of Europe's most spectacular waterfalls, and each one has a story worth knowing. 💦

🌊 The Rhine Falls, near Schaffhausen, carry around 600,000 litres of water per second in summer, making them Europe's largest waterfall. At 150 metres wide and 23 metres high, they once recorded a peak flow of 1.25 million litres per second, back in 1965. A rock stands right in the middle, reachable by boat.

⛰️ The Mürrenbach Falls, in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, drop 417 metres down a near vertical cliff, making them Switzerland's highest waterfall. The nearby Staubbach Falls used to hold that title, until research showed the Mürrenbach Falls are actually higher.

🏔️ The Trümmelbach Falls, also in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, are the only glacier waterfalls in Europe still accessible inside a mountain. A lift carved into the rock leads straight into the heart of the falls, where ten cascades thunder through the rock, fed by meltwater from the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, at up to 20,000 litres per second.

🕵️ The Reichenbach Falls, near Meiringen, are where Arthur Conan Doyle staged the final showdown between Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty, making them Switzerland's most famous waterfall in fiction. The falls drop 250 metres in seven stages, with a white star marking the spot of the fictional fight and a funicular running alongside since 1899.

🍃 The Giessbach Falls, on the shores of Lake Brienz, has fourteen tiers, each named after a hero of Bernese history, a tradition dating back to around 1820. The falls drop roughly 500 metres, and a footpath takes you right behind the curtain of water. Below them runs Europe's oldest tourist funicular, in service since 1879.

Which one would you like to see in person? 💧

05/09/2026

Ever heard of Schwingen, Hornussen or Steinstossen? 🤼🪵🪨

These are Switzerland's three national sports, and they're unlike anything you've probably seen before!

🤼‍♂️ Schwingen (Swiss wrestling)
Two opponents face each other in a sawdust-covered ring, wearing special wrestling shorts. Holding on to them, each tries to throw the other onto their back. After the fight, the winner brushes the sawdust off the loser’s back, a traditional gesture of respect. Every three years, Switzerland’s traditional sports take centre stage at the Federal Wrestling and Alpine Games Festival. The best known is Schwingen, a form of Swiss wrestling.

🪵Hornussen (Swiss bat-and-field game)
A flying puck and players armed with large wooden boards: Hornussen is unlike most sports you’ve seen before. One team launches a small puck called the Nouss into the opponents’ field. The defending team tries to stop it from hitting the ground using wooden boards called Schindeln. The sport probably originated in the Emmental region and was first mentioned in 1625. Its name refers to the hornet-like buzzing of the projectile as it flies.

🪨Steinstossen (Stone throwing)
How far could you throw an 83.5 kg stone? In Steinstossen, athletes push heavy stones as far as possible. At the Federal Wrestling and Alpine Games Festival, they compete with stones weighing 20, 40 and 83.5 kg.
The heaviest is the legendary Unspunnen stone, linked to a tradition dating back more than 200 years. In 2025, Urs Hutmacher pushed it 4.16 metres, breaking a record that had stood for 21 years.

👉 Which Swiss national sport are you most eager to try?

04/09/2026

The Swiss Army Knife is one of Switzerland’s most recognisable objects. But its story is more international than many people imagine. 🇨🇭

In 1880, the Swiss Armed Forces ordered a folding knife that soldiers could use both to eat and dismantle their service rifle. A few years later, the first 15,000 knives were produced in Germany, where John S. Holler had created an early multipurpose knife.

The Swiss touch came in 1897, when Karl Elsener, a surgical instruments manufacturer from Schwyz, developed his first folding officer’s knife, patented as "Original Swiss Officer’s and Sports Knife". He added a second blade and a corkscrew produced in France, before building what later became Victorinox.

Over time, the Swiss Army Knife became much more than a pocket tool. Compact, practical and multifunctional, it grew into a symbol of Swiss precision and design.

Today, it is still used by various armed forces, but even more as a smart tool for campers, DIY enthusiasts and everyday adventurers around the world. It has also earned a place in international museums, including MoMA in New York and the Design Museum in London.

Which Swiss object do you think is the most iconic?

➡️ More info in the first comment

04/09/2026

Ein hochkarätiger literarischer Abend 📚in der Deutschen Bibliothek Helsinki.

Der Dichter und Literaturwissenschaftler, Prof. emeritus Wolfram Malte Fues las am 2. September 2026 aus seinen Lyrikbänden. Dabei wusste er das Publikum in seinen Bann zu ziehen und regte mit einer Vielzahl von Anspielungen auf Mythologie, Geschichte und Literatur zum Nachdenken, Nachfragen und Nachschlagen an.

Die Schweizer Botschaft in Finnland freut sich, gemeinsam mit der Deutsche Bibliothek Helsinki - Saksalainen kirjasto und Pro Helvetia die deutschsprachige Literatur in Finnland zu unterstützen.

Auf dem Foto (v.l.n.r.) Prof. emeritus Christoph Parry im Gespräch mit Prof. emeritus Wolfram Malte Fues.

03/09/2026

Welcome to Helsinki, Ambassador-designate of Switzerland to Finland, Mr. Olivier Zehnder! 🇫🇮👋

Ambassador Zehnder, who officially assumed his duties on 1 September, has had a flying start to his time in Helsinki.

His first days have already been productive. Alongside getting to know the new team, the Ambassador hosted a event in cooperation with Switzerland Tourism Nordics at the Helsinki Bourse Club on his first day in office. On the second day, he presented copies of his credentials to the Chief of Protocol of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland Mr. Mika Koskinen.

Throughout his distinguished career, Ambassador Zehnder has worked across both bilateral and multilateral diplomacy. He arrived in Finland from Indonesia, where he served as the Ambassador of Switzerland to Indonesia, Timor-Leste and ASEAN. His other previous postings include serving as the Consul General of Switzerland in Shanghai and as Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York.

Join us in wishing the Ambassador a warm welcome and a successful tenure in Finland!

31/08/2026

Switzerland's railway wasn't built by a company. It was voted into being.

In a 1898 referendum, Swiss citizens approved buying back the country's railways for the Confederation, under the slogan "Swiss railways for the Swiss people." SBB CFF FFS officially started running on January 1, 1902.

Over a century later, it's grown into one of Europe's busiest and most densely used rail networks, carrying passengers and roughly 160,000 net tons of freight, powered entirely by renewable energy (mostly hydroelectric) since 2025. It runs on four divisions: passenger markets, passenger operations, infrastructure, and real estate plus a separate freight arm, SBB Cargo. 35,800 people keep it all moving on daily basis.

SBB shows how a public institution, built on a single 19th-century vote, has kept modernising over more than a century, from steam-era origins to a fully renewable-powered network today.

25/08/2026

Im Namen der Schweizer Botschaft in Finnland möchten wir Sie herzlich zur Wolfram Malte Fues’ Lesung willkommen heissen, die am Mittwoch 2. September von 18:00 bis 20:00 Uhr in der Deutsche Bibliothek Helsinki - Saksalainen kirjasto stattfindet und von der Schweizer Kulturstiftung Pro Helvetia sowie von dieser Botschaft unterstützt wird.

Schweizerklub Finnland
Sveitsin Ystävät Suomessa - Freunde der Schweiz in Finnland

Der Dichter und Literaturwissenschaftler Wolfram Malte Fues liest aus seinen Gedichten.

Bis zu seiner Emeritierung war er Professor für Neuere Deutsche Literaturwissenschaft an der Universität Basel, inzwischen sind zehn Lyrikbände von ihm erschienen.

Seine Gedichte sind ein Fest der Assoziationskraft: klangvoll, voller Anspielungen auf Mythologie, Geschichte und Literatur und trotzdem fest in der Gegenwart verankert. Sie geben keine Antworten, sondern fordern dazu auf, neu zu denken.

📅 Mittwoch, 02.09.2026
🕕 18:00–20:00 Uhr
🗣️ Deutsch
📍 Deutsche Bibliothek Helsinki
Pohjoinen Makasiinikatu 7

Mit Unterstützung von Pro Helvetia.
Finnisch in den Kommentaren.

22/08/2026

🇨🇭 Every country has childhood icons. These are Switzerland’s.

Some characters entertain us for a few years. Others become part of a country’s collective memory.

Switzerland has created several figures that travelled far beyond its borders:

🏔️ Heidi, published in 1880, became one of the world’s most translated stories and helped shape the international image of the Swiss Alps.

🐧 Pingu, created near Zurich in 1986, proved that children everywhere could understand the same character, even without a single real word.

🐦 Globi, born in 1932 as a department-store mascot, grew into a national icon known for his curiosity, mischief and unmistakable chequered trousers.

🔔 Schellen-Ursli introduced generations of readers to Chalandamarz, the centuries-old spring tradition of the Engadin.

🐴 Yakari, created by Swiss authors Job and Derib, became an international comic-book success, selling millions of copies in many languages.

💬 Titeuf, created by Zep in 1992, turned the awkward moments of childhood into stories recognised by children across Europe and beyond.

These characters come from different eras, regions and formats, but they share one thing: they became much more than entertainment. They are part of Switzerland’s cultural heritage.

Which one do you remember most from your childhood? 👇

19/08/2026

Inspired by a bicycle. Built for garlic. 🧄🇨🇭

What does a bicycle brake have in common with a garlic press?

More than you might think.

Swiss inventor Karl Zysset was constantly looking for practical solutions to everyday challenges. One observation eventually led to the creation of a kitchen tool that would find its way into homes around the world.

Swipe through to discover how a simple idea became an international success story.

Do you use a garlic press, or do you have another trick for preparing garlic? 👇

➡️More info in the first comment

17/08/2026

Welcome to the Team!

We are pleased to welcome Sophie Steiner Kernen, who has recently taken up her duties as Councellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Switzerland in Finland.

Originally from Olten, Sophie moved to Helsinki with her husband and their two young children following a rewarding posting in Bangkok. She brings with her 10 years of experience as a diplomat, along with an academic background in History and professional experience in the Swiss banking sector. With a genuine soft spot for the Nordics, Finland is a particularly fitting new chapter for her and her family.

We are happy to have Sophie on board, and we look forward to working together to further strengthen Swiss-Finnish relations.

Welcome to Helsinki, Sophie!