Embassy of Switzerland Singapore

01/09/2026

Next stop in our ghost tales is Neu-Bechburg Castle , situated in Oensingen in the canton of Solothurn. 👻🏰

High above the town of Oensingen, in the canton of Solothurn, stands Neu-Bechburg Castle, a fortress with over 750 years of history. Today it's a picturesque venue for weddings and celebrations, but after dark, locals say something far less welcoming still roams its halls: the ghost of Junker Kuoni.

According to legend, Kuoni was a robber knight who lived at Neu-Bechburg in the 14th century, inheriting the castle built by his ancestors. Far from a noble lord, he became the terror of Oensingen, feared throughout the region for his cruelty. But justice, in its own dark way, eventually caught up with him.

First, came the plague. The Black Death was sweeping across Europe at the time, claiming a third of the population, and Kuoni fell ill with it. Terrified of contagion, the people of Oensingen walled him up alive in a small chamber built onto the south side of the tower. For a while, servants passed him food and drink through a narrow gap in the stone. But once he died, even that opening was sealed, leaving him entombed in solitude and darkness.

His soul, however, never found rest. For centuries, strange happenings have been reported within the castle: footsteps with no source, locked doors, and an eerie presence felt by those who spend time there after dark. One former castle warden lived alongside the legend for years and came to see Kuoni as a rather gentle spirit, one who might quietly lock a door now and then, but never posed any real threat.

In 2002, a Swiss television crew tried to X-ray the hidden chamber to see inside without breaking the stone. The equipment failed. They brought a replacement. That failed too. Over the years, ghost hunters and paranormal investigators have returned again and again to try to communicate with Kuoni, but cameras lose picture, phones lose signal, and recording equipment malfunctions without explanation. "That's Kuoni again," has become something of a running joke.

Neu-Bechburg Castle still stands proudly above Oensingen today. The castle can still be visited today for guided tours and events, from concerts to food and cultural gatherings. Though no one has attempted to disturb Kuoni's resting place since and few dare to stay after nightfall.

31/08/2026

🇨🇭 Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships 2027–2028 🎓

The Swiss Confederation, through the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS), awards post-graduate scholarships to foreign researchers of all disciplines wishing to study at any Swiss higher education institution. Please note: this concerns research fellowship and PhD opportunities only, post-doctoral scholarships are no longer available.

📅 Applications from Singapore and Brunei Darussalam open on 1 September 2026.

📝 All applications must be submitted online via the GO ESKAS (Grants Online ESKAS) tool: https://loom.ly/Z-CHkQ4

ℹ️ Please note: post-doctoral scholarships are no longer available.

For eligibility criteria, application procedures and admission requirements, visit: https://loom.ly/rEYGH2A

Questions? Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]

29/08/2026

You see Swiss design every day, often without realising it.

🎨 At the beginning of the 20th century, graphic design was not yet a clearly defined profession. From 1915 onwards, schools of arts and crafts in Basel and Zurich began offering courses in applied graphic design and typography. Over the following decades, these institutions trained generations of designers and helped shape Switzerland’s distinctive approach to visual communication.

📐 The goal was not decoration. It was clarity.
Swiss graphic design developed under the influence of modern movements such as Constructivism, De Stijl and the Bauhaus. Designers reduced visual communication to what was essential, using clear structures, sans-serif typefaces, asymmetrical layouts, photography, graphic symbols and a restrained use of colour.

🗂️ One of the movement's most influential tools was the modular grid. It allowed designers to organise text and images with precision, creating layouts that were clear, balanced and easy to navigate. Josef Müller-Brockmann later helped formalise and popularise this method, which became a defining feature of Swiss Style.

🌍 In the 1950s, Swiss Style gained international recognition.
Basel and Zurich became its two main centres. In Basel, Emil Ruder and Armin Hofmann trained generations of designers, while publications such as Neue Grafik and Typographische Monatsblätter helped spread Swiss graphic design internationally.

🔤 Then came 1957, a landmark year for Swiss typography.
Helvetica was developed by Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann, while Univers was designed by Adrian Frutiger. Both typefaces reflected the Swiss focus on clarity and readability, although Zurich designers were more closely associated with Helvetica and grid systems, while Basel designers often favoured Univers and used grids more selectively.

🚉 Swiss Style also became a powerful tool for public communication. From 1978 onwards, Josef Müller-Brockmann and Peter Spalinger developed a modular visual information system for the Swiss Federal Railways. Its clear structure, together with the SBB logo, remains one of the most recognisable examples of this design heritage.

💡 Swiss graphic design has evolved far beyond the rules of the 1950s and 1960s. Since the 1970s, designers have reinterpreted its principles in new ways.
Today, its legacy still shapes how millions of people navigate and understand information, from transport signage and public information systems to corporate identities and digital interfaces.

💬 Which example of Swiss design do you recognise most easily?

28/08/2026

🇨🇭 Switzerland's flag has been flying for almost 700 years and there's more to its story than you'd think.

The white cross on red first appeared in 1339, at the Battle of Laupen, as a way for Swiss confederates to recognize each other in battle. But it stayed a military and cantonal symbol for centuries. It only became the country's official flag in 1848, after Napoleon briefly forced a tricolour on the country during the Helvetic Republic.

There's also a surprising connection to the Red Cross: General Guillaume-Henri Dufour helped adopt Switzerland's military flag in 1840, then co-founded the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva in 1863 which explains why the two emblems look so alike.

On top of that, Switzerland's flag is one of only two square national flags in the world (the other is the Vatican's), and a University of St Gallen study found the Swiss cross adds genuine value to "Swiss Made" products.

Which fact surprised you most?

27/08/2026

We continue our series of folklore tales from Switzerland with the story of the Sennentuntschi: a doll that came to life, and took revenge 👹

High in the Swiss Alps, where herdsmen spend long, isolated summers with their cattle, one of the darkest legends of Alpine folklore was born: the tale of the Sennentuntschi.

Bored by the long days with their cattle, a group of herdsmen decided to build themselves a companion: a doll fashioned out of straw, rags, wood and whatever else they had at hand. They dressed her, gave her a face, and mockingly named her Sennentuntschi, the herdsmen's doll.

At first, the doll was treated like a human: they fed her, talked to her and danced with her. She became part of the daily rhythm of life on the alp, a way to fill the silence of the long summer. But as the weeks wore on and isolation took its toll, their treatment soon turned cruel and abusive.

To their surprise, the doll suddenly came to life. What had been created out of boredom turned against those who had mistreated her, and she decided to take revenge on one of the men by killing him - setting an example for the rest of the herdsmen. The surviving men fled the mountains in terror, and were never seen again.

The Sennentuntschi is a tale told across the Alpine region, from Bern Oberland to Liechtenstein, each version differing in the story. The legend has endured and inspired many adaptations. The latest one is the 2010 horror film "Sennentuntschi: Curse of the Alps," which brought the tale to a wider audience.

To date, one replica of the doll, discovered in the Calanca Valley, is preserved today at the Rätisches Museum in Chur. It remains the only known surviving artefact tied to this unsettling legend - the line between folklore and reality is never entirely clear...

26/08/2026

In a region as complex as Asia Pacific, trust is everything. 🇨🇭

Discover with Ambassador Markus Leitner, Head of Switzerland's Asia Pacific Division at the FDFA, why Switzerland's neutrality makes it uniquely positioned to be a trusted partner to all sides.

ℹ️Discover the link for the full episode in the comments.

25/08/2026

25/08/2026

25 August 2026

The Embassy of Switzerland in Singapore issues the following statement, together with the Delegation of the European Union, the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States and the diplomatic missions of Norway and the United Kingdom in Singapore:

Following the ex*****on of a 68-year-old Singaporean and a 34-year-old Malaysian on 21 August 2026, the EU Delegation and the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom reiterate our strong opposition to the use of capital punishment in all cases and in all circumstances.

Eighteen ex*****ons have now been carried out in Singapore this year.

The death penalty is incompatible with the inalienable right to life and the absolute prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. Furthermore, it is a definitive punishment that makes possible miscarriages of justice irreversible.

International human rights law restricts the use of capital punishment to the most serious crimes, understood as crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing. Resorting to the death penalty to prevent drug production and trafficking does not meet this threshold. There is no conclusive evidence that the death penalty contributes to curbing or preventing drug trafficking more than other types of punishment.

We will continue to work for the abolition of the death penalty in the few countries that still apply it. We call for Singapore to adopt a moratorium on all ex*****ons as a first step towards its full abolition, in line with the trend in the Southeast Asian region and worldwide.

24/08/2026

It's not a robot. It's not sci-fi. It's a drone that walks into fire so humans don't have to.

FireDrone survives temperatures up to 200°C, scanning for hotspots and trapped people through smoke that would blind (and destroy) any normal drone.

Tested in real fire training. Made to save real lives. 🔥🚁

More info: https://bit.ly/4wolxFE

23/08/2026

Singapore is known as an international maritime hub, but did you know Switzerland also has a role in maritime trade? 🇨🇭

Ambassador Markus Leitner, Head of Switzerland's Asia Pacific Division at the FDFA, explains how Switzerland's presence in Asia started with trade in the 19th century and has been expanding ever since, building one of the deepest trade networks in the region, despite having no coastline.

ℹ️Discover the link for the full episode in the comments.