2023 in Switzerland

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Decades:	2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	History of Switzerland Timeline of Swiss history List of years in Switzerland

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. ^[1]
• 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. ^[2]
• 31 March: More than a dozen people are injured in separate incidents after two trains derail during a storm. ^[3]
• 12 June: The Swiss Federal Administration reports a distributed denial of service attack on some of its websites. ^[4]
• 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. ^[5]
• 17 June: Seven people are injured after a hot air balloon catches fire in Zug. ^[6]
• 11 August: The Gotthard Base Tunnel is closed for at least six days after a freight train derails in the tunnel. ^[7]

• 22 October: 2023 Swiss federal election: Voters in Switzerland elect the members of the country's Federal Assembly. ^[8]
• 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. ^[9]
• 11 December: Two people are killed and another person is wounded in a shooting in Sion. Swiss police says the suspect is in custody. ^[10]

Arts and entertainment

• 76th Locarno Film Festival August 2 – 12 ^[11]

Sports

• 11–16 July – 2023 World Orienteering Championships in Graubunden ^[12]
• 1–12 August – 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships ^[13]
• 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) ^[14]
• 7 January – Walter Intemann, 78, Swiss-born Austrian businessman and politician ^[15]
• 9 January – K. Alex Müller, 95, physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (1987) ^[16]
• 16 January – Mousse Boulanger, 96, writer and journalist ^[17]
• 26 January – Edgar Schein, 94, Swiss-born American business theorist and psychologist ^[18]
• 28 January – Max Huwyler, 91, Swiss writer ^[19]
• 30 January – Donald M. Hess, 86, winemaker and art collector ^[20]
• 2 February – Peter Facklam, 92, politician, member of the Executive Council of Basel-Stadt (1980–1992) ^[21]
• 15 February – Gilbert Rist, 84, educator ^[22]
• 23 February – François Couchepin, 88, lawyer and politician, chancellor (1991–1999) ^[23]
• 7 March – André Haefliger, 93, mathematician (Haefliger structure) ^[24]
• 8 March – Roland Hürzeler, 77, Olympic gymnast (1968) ^[25]
• 23 March – Peter Marti, 70, footballer (Zürich, Basel, national team) ^[26]
• 24 March – Marcel Blanc, 88, politician, Vaud state councillor (1978–1991) ^[27]
• 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) ^[28]
• 9 April – Roberto Frigerio, 84, footballer (Basel, Bellinzona, national team) ^[29]
• 13 April – Eberhard W. Kornfeld, 99, auctioneer, author, and art dealer ^[30]
• 25 April – Hanna Johansen, 83, German-born Swiss writer ( 7×7 Tales of a Sevensleeper ) ^[31]
• 26 April – Maja Hug, 95, Olympic figure skater. ^[32]
• 2 May – Heidy Forster, 92, Swiss-German actress ( Hinter den sieben Gleisen , The Roaring Fifties , The Foster Boy ) ^[33]
• 7 May – Peter Zeindler, 89, journalist, writer, and playwright ^[34]
• 22 May – Michael E. Dreher, 79, politician, MP (1987–1999) ^[35]
• 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. ^[36]
• 31 May – Kurt Widmer, 82, baritone and voice teacher (City of Basel Music Academy) ^[37]
• 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. ^[38]
• 11 June – Jean Wicki, 89, bobsledder, Olympic champion (1972) ^[39]
• 13 June – Philippe Borer, 68, violinist ^[40]
• 16 June – Gino Mäder, 26, Olympic road cyclist (2020) ^[41]
• 27 June – Peter Bieri, 79, writer and philosopher ^[42]
• 10 July – Christine Hug, 41–42, lieutenant colonel
• 14 July – Albert Eschenmoser, 97, organic chemist (Eschenmoser's salt, Eschenmoser fragmentation, Eschenmoser sulfide contraction) ^[43]
• 19 July – Silvana Lattmann, 104, Italian-Swiss poet and author ^[44]
• 20 July – Arnaud Bédat, 58, journalist ( L'Illustré ) and author ^[45]
• 1 August – Alfred Roch, 98, Olympic cross-country skier. ^[46]
• 2 August – Laurence Deonna, 86, journalist ^[47]
• 4 August – Andreas Däscher, 96, four-time Olympic ski jumper ^[48]
• 9 August – Dionys Baeriswyl, 79, theoretical physicist ^[49]
• 15 August – Ursula Cantieni, 75, Swiss-German actress ( Die Fallers – Die SWR Schwarzwaldserie ) ^[50]
• 19 August – Hans Rudolf Gysin, 82, politician, member of the National Council (1987–2011) ^[51]
• 22 August –
  • Martin Laciga, 48, Olympic beach volleyball player (2000, 2004) ^[52]
  • Nicolas Gessner, 92, theatre and film director and screen writer. ^[53]
• 12 September – Kurt Raaflaub, 82, academic and historian ^[54]
• 9 October – Simone Chapuis-Bischof, 92, women's rights activist ^[55]
• 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). ^[56]
• 5 November – Susi Eppenberger, 92, politician, MP (1979–1991). ^[57]
• 7 November – Werner Carobbio, 86, politician, member of the National Council (1975–1999). ^[58]
• 15 November – Anna Felder, 85, writer ^[59]
• 21 November – Georges Perroud, 82, footballer (Sion, Servette, national team). ^[60]
• 22 November – François Musy, 68, Swiss-born French sound engineer ( First Name: Carmen , Marguerite , Lost Illusions ). ^[61]
• 1 December – Heinz Gstrein, 81, Austrian-Swiss Oriental Orthodox theologian, foreign correspondent, and lecturer (University of Vienna). ^[62]
• 3 December – Léonard Gianadda, 88, journalist (TSR), engineer, and philanthropist ^[63]
• 8 December –
  • Michel Dovaz, 95, wine critic ( Guide Hachette des Vins ) and food writer ^[64]
  • Jean-Pierre Moulin, 101, journalist ( Le Matin ), writer and author ^[65]
• 9 December – Walter Leiser, 92, rower, Olympic silver medalist (1952) ^[66]
• 10 December – Mark Villiger, 73, judge, justice of the European Court of Human Rights (2006–2015). ^[67]
• 20 December – Gaston Häni, 72, Swiss clown ^[68]
• 26 December – Lesley McNaught-Mändli, 59, British-born Swiss show jumper, Olympic silver medallist (2000). ^[69]
• 28 December – Dick Marty, 78, politician, member of the Council of States (1995–2011). ^[70]

References

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