The following events occurred in Switzerland in the year 2023.
Incumbents
President of the Swiss Confederation: Alain Berset President of the National Council: Irène Kälin President of the Swiss Council of States: Thomas Hefti
Events
5 February: Avalanches kill eight tourists in the Alps. 19 March: Acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS: UBS Group AG, supported by the Swiss government, reaches a deal to merge with Credit Suisse as the latter faces imminent insolvency. 31 March: More than a dozen people are injured in separate incidents after two trains derail during a storm. 12 June: The Swiss Federal Administration reports a distributed denial of service attack on some of its websites. 16 June: The village of Brienz/Brinzauls in Grisons, 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. 11 August: The Gotthard Base Tunnel is closed for at least six days after a freight train derails in the tunnel.
22 October: 2023 Swiss federal election: Voters in Switzerland elect the members of the country's Federal Assembly. 29 October: The National Council of Switzerland votes 151–29 to approve a ban on full-face coverings, such as burqas worn by Muslim women. Violators of the ban could face a fine of up to 1,000 Swiss francs. 11 December: Two people are killed and another person is wounded in a shooting in Sion. Swiss police 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 2022–23 Swiss Women's Super League 2022–23 Swiss Cup
Deaths 4 January – Anton Schnider, 86, footballer (BSC Young Boys, FC Grenchen, national team) 7 January – Walter Intemann, 78, Swiss-born Austrian businessman and politician 9 January – K. Alex Müller, 95, physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (1987) 16 January – Mousse Boulanger, 96, writer and journalist 26 January – Edgar Schein, 94, Swiss-born American business theorist and psychologist 28 January – Max Huwyler, 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 (1980–1992) 15 February – Gilbert Rist, 84, educator 23 February – François Couchepin, 88, lawyer and politician, chancellor (1991–1999) 7 March – André Haefliger, 93, mathematician (Haefliger structure) 8 March – Roland Hürzeler, 77, Olympic gymnast (1968) 23 March – Peter Marti, 70, footballer (Zürich, Basel, national team) 24 March – Marcel Blanc, 88, politician, Vaud state councillor (1978–1991) 28 March – Theodor Otto Diener, 102, Swiss-American plant pathologist, discoverer of viroids 7 April – Elisabeth Kopp, 86, politician, member of the Swiss Federal Council and minister of justice and police (1984–1989) 9 April – Roberto Frigerio, 84, footballer (Basel, Bellinzona, national team) 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) 26 April – Maja Hug, 95, Olympic figure skater. 2 May – Heidy Forster, 92, Swiss-German actress (Hinter den sieben Gleisen, The Roaring Fifties, The Foster Boy) 7 May – Peter Zeindler, 89, journalist, writer, and playwright 22 May – Michael E. Dreher, 79, politician, MP (1987–1999) 24 May – Tina Turner, 83, American-born singer ("River Deep – Mountain High", "What's Love Got to Do with It") and actress (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome), 8-time Grammy winner. 31 May – Kurt Widmer, 82, baritone and voice teacher (City of Basel Music Academy) 6 June – Peter Henrici, 95, Roman Catholic prelate and philosopher, auxiliary bishop of Chur (1993–2007) 10 June – Hans Mössmer, 91, Olympic ice hockey player. 11 June – Jean Wicki, 89, bobsledder, Olympic champion (1972) 13 June – Philippe Borer, 68, violinist 16 June – Gino Mäder, 26, Olympic road cyclist (2020) 27 June – Peter Bieri, 79, writer and philosopher 10 July – Christine Hug, 41–42, lieutenant colonel 14 July – Albert Eschenmoser, 97, organic chemist (Eschenmoser's salt, Eschenmoser fragmentation, Eschenmoser sulfide contraction) 19 July – Silvana Lattmann, 104, Italian-Swiss poet and author 20 July – Arnaud Bédat, 58, journalist (L'Illustré) and author 1 August – Alfred Roch, 98, Olympic cross-country skier. 2 August – Laurence Deonna, 86, journalist 4 August – Andreas Däscher, 96, four-time Olympic ski jumper 9 August – Dionys Baeriswyl, 79, theoretical physicist 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, 48, Olympic beach volleyball player (2000, 2004) Nicolas Gessner, 92, theatre and film director and screen writer. 12 September – Kurt Raaflaub, 82, academic and historian 9 October – Simone Chapuis-Bischof, 92, women's rights activist 10 October – Willy Pfund, 84, politician, member of the National Council (1983–1987). 11 October – Rainer Gut, 91, bank manager, chairman of Credit Suisse (1983–2000). 5 November – Susi Eppenberger, 92, politician, MP (1979–1991). 7 November – Werner Carobbio, 86, politician, member of the National Council (1975–1999). 15 November – Anna Felder, 85, writer 21 November – Georges Perroud, 82, footballer (Sion, Servette, national team). 22 November – François Musy, 68, Swiss-born French sound engineer (First Name: Carmen, Marguerite, Lost Illusions). 1 December – Heinz Gstrein, 81, Austrian-Swiss Oriental Orthodox theologian, foreign correspondent, and lecturer (University of Vienna). 3 December – Léonard Gianadda, 88, journalist (TSR), engineer, and philanthropist 8 December – Michel Dovaz, 95, wine critic (Guide Hachette des Vins) and food writer Jean-Pierre Moulin, 101, journalist (Le Matin), writer and author 9 December – Walter Leiser, 92, rower, Olympic silver medalist (1952) 10 December – Mark Villiger, 73, judge, justice of the European Court of Human Rights (2006–2015). 20 December – Gaston Häni, 72, Swiss clown 26 December – Lesley McNaught-Mändli, 59, British-born Swiss show jumper, Olympic silver medallist (2000). 28 December – Dick Marty, 78, politician, member of the Council of States (1995–2011).
References