Events in the year 2023 in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Incumbents

President of the Swiss Confederation The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the Confederation or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is the head of Switzerland's seven-member Federal Council (Switzerland), Federal Council, the country's ...

Alain Berset Alain Berset (; born 9 April 1972) is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2012. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), he has headed the Federal Department of Home Affairs since he took offi ...

* President of the National Council: Irène Kälin *

President of the Swiss Council of States This is a list of presidents of the Swiss Council of States, the upper house of the Federal Assembly. List {, border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse" class=sortable , --- style="background:#efefef" ! Year ! N ...

: Thomas Hefti

Events

* 5 February: Avalanches kill eight tourists in the Alps. * 19 March:

Acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS On 19 March 2023, Swiss investment bank UBS Group AG agreed to buy Credit Suisse for billion ( billion) in an all-stock deal brokered by the government of Switzerland and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. The Swiss Nation ...

UBS UBS Group AG is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres ...

Group AG, supported by the

Swiss government The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governme ...

, reaches a deal to merge with

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...

as the latter faces imminent

insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...

. * 31 March: More than a dozen people are injured in separate incidents after two trains

derail A derail or derailer is a device used to prevent fouling (blocking or compromising) of a rail track (or collision with anything present on the track, such as a person, or a train) by unauthorized movements of trains or unattended rolling stock. ...

during a storm. * 12 June: The Swiss Federal Administration reports a

distributed denial of service attack In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyber-attack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host connect ...

on some of its websites. * 16 June: The village of

Brienz/Brinzauls Brienz/Brinzauls ''( Romansh: Brinzauls)'' is a former municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/B ...

Grisons The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Surmiran, (Cant ...

, is narrowly missed by an overnight 2 million m³ (71 million cu ft) rockslide. The village of 128 residents had been evacuated in May after scientists predicted the imminent rockslide. * 17 June: Seven people are injured after a hot air balloon catches fire in

Zug , neighboring_municipalities = Cham, Baar, Walchwil, Steinhausen, Unterägeri , twintowns = Fürstenfeld (Austria), Kalesija (Bosnia-Herzegowina) Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo r ...

. * 11 August: The

Gotthard Base Tunnel , rm, Tunnel da basa dal Sogn Gottard , image = 20141120 gotthard-basistunnel02-wikipedia-hannes-ortlieb.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Turnout at Faido multifunction station , line = Gotthard Line , location = Switzerland (Uri, Grisons and ...

is closed for at least six days after a

freight train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...

derails in the tunnel. * 22 October:

2023 Swiss federal election The next elections to elect all members of both houses of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland are expected to be held in 2023. Contesting parties The table below lists contesting parties represented in the Federal Assembly before the electi ...

: Voters in

elect the members of the country's Federal Assembly. * 29 October: The National Council of

votes 151–29 to approve a ban on full-face coverings, such as burqas worn by

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

women. Violators of the ban could face a fine of up to 1,000

Swiss francs The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the f ...

. * 11 December: Two people are killed and another person is wounded in a shooting in

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

Swiss police Law enforcement in Switzerland is mainly a responsibility of the 26 cantons of Switzerland, who each operate cantonal police agencies. Some cities also operate municipal police agencies as provided for by cantonal law. The federal government p ...

says the suspect is in custody.

Arts and entertainment

* 76th Locarno Film Festival August 2 – 12

Sports

* 11–16 July – 2023 World Orienteering Championships in Graubunden * 1–12 August – 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships * UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group I * 2022–23 in Swiss football :* 2022–23 Swiss Promotion League :* 2022–23 Swiss Challenge League :*

2022–23 Swiss Super League The 2022–23 Swiss Super League (referred to as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsoring reasons) is the 126th season of top-tier competitive football in Switzerland and the 20th under its current name and format. With this season, the Swi ...

:* 2022–23 Swiss Women's Super League :*

2022–23 Swiss Cup The 2022–23 Swiss Cup, or Schweizer Pokal, is the 98th season of Switzerland's annual football cup competition. It features 64 teams from the first to the eight tier of the Swiss football league. The first round will be played from 19 to 21 Au ...

Deaths

* 4 January – Anton Schnider, 86, footballer (

BSC Young Boys BSC Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation ) are a Swiss sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 15 Swiss league championships and six Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, reac ...

FC Grenchen FC Grenchen is a Swiss football club, based in Grenchen. They currently play in the 2. Liga, and play their matches at the Brühl Stadium. History FC Grenchen was founded in 1906. In 1937 they gained promotion to the top league of Swiss ...

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

) * 7 January – Walter Intemann, 78, Swiss-born Austrian businessman and politician * 9 January – K. Alex Müller, 95, physicist,

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

laureate (1987) * 16 January –

Mousse Boulanger Mousse Boulanger (born Berthe Sophie Neuenschwander; 3 November 1926 – 16 January 2023) was a Swiss poet, actress, and television producer. Biography Neuenschwander was born in Boncourt on 3 November 1926 and attended a cantonal school in Po ...

, 96, writer and journalist * 26 January –

Edgar Schein Edgar Henry Schein (born March 5, 1928) is a former professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has made a notable mark on the field of organizational development in many areas, including career development, group process consultation, an ...

, 94, Swiss-born American business theorist and psychologist * 28 January –

Max Huwyler Max Huwyler (6 December 1931 – 28 January 2023) was a Swiss writer. Biography Originally, Huwyler was a high school teacher in Zürich. He wrote several books for children, theatre plays, poetry, fiction stories, and radio plays. He co-auth ...

, 91, Swiss writer * 30 January – Donald M. Hess, 86, winemaker and art collector * 2 February – Peter Facklam, 92, politician, member of the

Executive Council of Basel-Stadt The Executive Council (german: Regierungsrat) is the executive of the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt. The seven-member collegial body is elected by the people for a period of four years. The last election was held in October/November 2016. The presi ...

(1980–1992) * 15 February –

Gilbert Rist Gilbert Rist (born 16 July 1938), is a Swiss honorary professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. He is best known for his study, ''The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith'', whi ...

, 84, educator * 23 February –

François Couchepin François Couchepin (19 January 1935 – 23 February 2023) was a Swiss lawyer and politician who served as Chancellor of Switzerland from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the now-defunct Free Democratic Party of Switzerland (FDP/PRD). Biography ...

, 88, lawyer and politician,

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

(1991–1999) * 7 March –

André Haefliger André Haefliger (born 22 May 1929 in Nyon, Switzerland) is a Swiss mathematician who works primarily on topology. Education and career Haefliger went to school in Nyon and then attended his final years at Collège Calvin in Geneva. He studied ...

, 93, mathematician ( Haefliger structure) * 8 March – Roland Hürzeler, 77, Olympic gymnast (

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

) * 23 March – Peter Marti, 70, footballer (

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

) * 24 March – Marcel Blanc, 88, politician, Vaud state councillor (1978–1991) * 28 March –

Theodor Otto Diener Theodor Otto Diener (born 28 February 1921) is a Swiss-American plant pathologist. In 1971, he discovered that the causative agent of the potato spindle tuber disease is not a virus, but a novel agent, which consists solely of a short strand of ...

, 102, Swiss-American plant pathologist, discoverer of

viroids Viroids are small single-stranded, circular RNAs that are infectious pathogens. Unlike viruses, they have no protein coating. All known viroids are inhabitants of angiosperms (flowering plants), and most cause diseases, whose respective economi ...

* 7 April –

Elisabeth Kopp Elisabeth Kopp (born 16 December 1936, in Zürich) is a Swiss politician and the first woman elected to the Swiss Federal Council (1984–1989). Biography Elisabeth Kopp grew up in Bern. After finishing her law studies in 1960, she married Ha ...

, 86, politician,

member of the Swiss Federal Council Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

and minister of justice and police (1984–1989) * 9 April –

Roberto Frigerio Roberto "Mucho" Frigerio (born 16 May 1938 in Le Havre, France) is a retired Swiss professional football forward who played for Switzerland in the 1962 FIFA World Cup.Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...

) * 13 April – Eberhard W. Kornfeld, 99, auctioneer, author, and art dealer * 25 April – Hanna Johansen, 83, German-born Swiss writer ('' 7×7 Tales of a Sevensleeper'') * 2 May –

Heidy Forster Heidy Forster (6 September 1930 – 2 May 2023) was a Swiss-German actress. Biography Forster started working at the Schauspielhaus Zürich and in the 1970s, she toured abroad with Franz Xaver Kroetz. From 1981 to 1999, she was involved with th ...

, 92, Swiss-German actress (''

Hinter den sieben Gleisen Hinter den sieben Gleisen is a 1959 Swiss comedy film written and directed by . Cast * Hannes Schmidhauser - Hartmann * Ursula Heyer - Inge Bögner * Zarli Carigiet - Dürst * Ruedi Walter - Clown * Max Haufler - Barbarossa * Margrit Rainer - ...

'', ''

The Roaring Fifties ''The Roaring Fifties'' (german: Die wilden Fünfziger ) is a 1983 West German comedy film directed by Peter Zadek and starring Juraj Kukura, Boy Gobert and Peter Kern. It is based on the novel ''Hurra, wir leben noch'' by Johannes Mario Simmel. ...

'', ''

The Foster Boy ''The Foster Boy'' (german: Der Verdingbub) is a 2011 Swiss drama film directed by Markus Imboden. It dramatizes the fate of two Verdingkinder in Emmental. Plot Max is an orphan whose one true passion is to play the accordion. He is sent to the ...

'') * 7 May –

Peter Zeindler Peter Zeindler (born 1934) is a Swiss journalist, crime fiction writer, and playwright. He was born in Zürich. His play ''Der Eremit'' was first staged at the Stadttheater in Bern in 1966. The play ''Kurzschluss'' was first staged at the Badisc ...

, 89, journalist, writer, and playwright * 22 May – Michael E. Dreher, 79, politician, MP (1987–1999) * 24 May –

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

, 83, American-born singer ("

River Deep – Mountain High "River Deep – Mountain High" is a song by Ike & Tina Turner released as the title track to their 1966 studio album on Philles Records. Produced by Phil Spector and written by Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked "R ...

", "

What's Love Got to Do with It What's Love Got to Do with It may refer to: *Tina Turner: ** "What's Love Got to Do with It" (song), a 1984 song by Tina Turner ** ''What's Love Got to Do with It'' (1993 film), a biographical film about Tina Turner ** ''What's Love Got to Do with ...

") and actress (''

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'' is a 1985 Australian post-apocalyptic dystopian action film directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie and written by Miller and Terry Hayes. It stars Mel Gibson and Tina Turner in a story of a lone roving warri ...

''), 8-time

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

winner. * 31 May – Kurt Widmer, 82, baritone and voice teacher (

City of Basel Music Academy The City of Basel Music Academy (german: Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel) is an institution for music education, located in Basel, Switzerland. It comprises a music school, college of music, and a center for early music research and performance. ...

) * 6 June –

Peter Henrici Peter Henrici (born 31 March 1928) is a Swiss Jesuit priest, Blondelian philosopher and professor (1960–1993) at the Gregorian University. He was Auxiliary Bishop of Chur from 1993 to 2007. Biography Born on 31 March 1928 at Zurich, Henrici ...

, 95, Roman Catholic prelate and philosopher, auxiliary bishop of

Chur , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Churwalden, Tschiertschen-Praden, Domat/Ems, Felsberg, Malix, Trimmis, Untervaz, Pfäfers , twintowns = Bad Homburg (Germany), Cabourg (France), Mayrhofen (Austria), Mondorf-les-Bains (Luxembourg), ...

(1993–2007) * 11 June –

Jean Wicki Jean Wicki (born 18 June 1933) is a Swiss bobsledder who competed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won three medals with one gold (Four-man: 1972) and two bronzes (Two-man: 1972, Four-man: 1968 ...

, 89, bobsledder, Olympic champion (

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

) * 13 June – Philippe Borer, 68, violinist * 16 June –

Gino Mäder Gino Mäder (; 4 January 1997 – 16 June 2023) was a Swiss road bicycle racing, road and Track cycling, track cyclist. He last rode for UCI WorldTeam . Mäder died as a result of an accident during the 2023 Tour de Suisse. Early life and educa ...

, 26, Olympic road cyclist (

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

) * 27 June – Peter Bieri, 79, writer and philosopher * 14 July –

Albert Eschenmoser Albert Jakob Eschenmoser (born 5 August 1925) is a Swiss organic chemist, best known for his work on the synthesis of complex heterocyclic natural compounds, most notably vitamin B12. In addition to his significant contributions to the field of ...

, 97, organic chemist (

Eschenmoser's salt In organic chemistry, Eschenmoser's salt (named for Albert Eschenmoser) is the ionic, organic compound . It is the iodide salt of the dimethylaminomethylene cation . The dimethylaminomethylene cation is a strong dimethylaminomethylating agent, ...

, Eschenmoser fragmentation,

Eschenmoser sulfide contraction The Eschenmoser sulfide contraction is an organic reaction first described by Albert Eschenmoser for the synthesis of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds from a thioester. The method requires a base and a tertiary phosphine. The method is of some relevance t ...

) * 19 July – Silvana Lattmann, 104, Italian-Swiss poet and author * 20 July – Arnaud Bédat, 58, journalist (''

L'Illustré ''L'Illustré'' is a French language weekly consumer magazine published in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is one of the earliest magazines published in the country and has been in circulation since 1921. History and profile ''L'Illustré'' was first ...

'') and author * 2 August – Laurence Deonna, 86, journalist * 4 August –

Andreas Däscher Andreas Däscher (born 9 June 1927) is a Swiss former ski jumper who is best known for developing the parallel style, or Däscher technique, in the 1950s. This technique became widely used throughout ski jumping until the early 1990s. This techn ...

, 96, four-time Olympic ski jumper * 15 August – Ursula Cantieni, 75, Swiss-German actress ('' Die Fallers – Die SWR Schwarzwaldserie'') * 19 August – Hans Rudolf Gysin, 82, politician, member of the National Council (1987–2011) * 22 August –

Martin Laciga Martin Laciga (born January 25, 1975 in Aarberg) is a retired beach volleyball player from Switzerland, who won the silver medal in the men's beach team competition at the 1999 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Marseille, France, partner ...

, 48, Olympic beach volleyball player (

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

)

References

{{Year in Europe, 2023 2020s in Switzerland Years of the 21st century in Switzerland