2024 in Switzerland

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See also:	History of Switzerland Timeline of Swiss history List of years in Switzerland

Events in the year 2024 in Switzerland .

Incumbents

• President of the Swiss Confederation: Viola Amherd
• President of the National Council: Eric Nussbaumer
• President of the Swiss Council of States: Eva Herzog

Events

February

• 20 February – In ice hockey, Genève-Servette HC of the Swiss National League wins their first Champions Hockey League title, defeating Skellefteå AIK of the Swedish Hockey League 3–2 in the final. ^[1]

March

• 3 March – 2024 Swiss referendums: Voters accept the initiative to increase monthly pensions, but reject raising the retirement age. ^[2]
• 11 March – Five skiers are found dead after they went missing two days ago en route from Zermatt to the village of Arolla. A sixth person is still missing. ^[3]
• 30 March–7 April – The 2024 World Men's Curling Championship at Schaffhausen. ^[4]

April

• 9 April – The European Court of Human Rights rules that the Swiss government's efforts to tackle climate change are insufficient and violate fundamental human rights, in its first such verdict against a state on the issue, following a lawsuit filed by about 2,500 members of the group Senior Women for Climate Protection. ^[5]
• 17 April – The Federal Assembly votes to ban public displays of the Nazi swastika. ^[6]

May

• 11 May – Swiss singer Nemo wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden with the song The Code . ^[7]
• 15 May – In a suspected terrorist attack, a man stabs six people in Zofingen. ^[8]

June

• 9 June – 2024 Swiss referendums: Voters reject limits on healthcare spending and an initiative against compulsory vaccination, while approving the initiative of a new law on electricity. ^[9]
• 13 June – Two people are killed and 11 others are injured following a series of explosions inside an underground parking garage at an apartment building in Obersiggenthal. ^[10]
• 15-16 June – June 2024 Ukraine peace summit: World leaders meet at the Bürgenstock Resort to advance the Ukrainian peace process. ^{[11] [12]}
• 21 June – A court in Geneva sentences billionaire Prakash Hinduja and three of his family members to four years in prison for exploiting domestic workers at their villa in Cologny. ^[13]
• 22 June – One person is killed and two others are reported missing after a rockslide hits the town of Lostallo in Graubünden. ^[14]
• 25 June – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe elects former Swiss president Alain Berset as the Council's new Secretary General, succeeding Marija Pejčinović Burić. ^[15]
• 30 June – Four people are killed and two are missing after landslides and torrential floods in Ticino and Valais. ^[16]

July

• 11 July – Five people are injured in a machete attack inside an apartment in Saint Gallen. The suspect is arrested. ^[17]
• 12 July – Three people are killed and eight others are injured after scaffolding falls off an under construction building in Lausanne. ^[18]
• 23 July – The United States invites Sudan's military and the Rapid Support Forces to ceasefire talks in Switzerland on 14 August. ^[19]

August

• 28 August – The Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland convicts two PetroSaudi executives to six and seven years in prison respectively for embezzling more than US$1.8 billion from the Malaysian strategic development firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad. ^[20]
• 30 August – Basel is selected to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, defeating a rival bid from Geneva. ^[21]

September

• 10 September – A Swiss appeals court convicts Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan of rape and sexual coercion. He receives a three-year prison sentence, with two years suspended. Ramadan still faces multiple other rape allegations in both Switzerland and France. ^[22]
• 22 September – 2024 Swiss referendums: Voters reject proposals to increase public funding to create wilderness areas, increase the amount of territory occupied by protected areas and pension reform. ^[23]
• 23 September – An American woman dies after using a sarco pod to commit assisted suicide in Merishausen, Schaffhausen Canton. Several people are subsequently arrested in connection with the incident. ^[24]
• 27 September –
  • Cyclist Muriel Furrer dies after sustaining serious head injuries in a crash while participating in the 2024 UCI Road World Championships in Zurich the previous day. ^[25]
  • Switzerland officially redefines parts of its border with Italy following topographical changes caused by melting glaciers. ^[26]

October

• 1 October – Three children are injured in a knife attack at a daycare centre in Oerlikon, Zürich. The suspect, a 23-year old Chinese national, is arrested. ^[27]

November

• 24 November – 2024 Swiss referendums: Voters reject proposals for additional road infrastructure and rent changes, while approving changes to healthcare funding. ^[28] In Basel, 66.4% of voters approve funding additional programs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 to be hosted in the city, apart from the event's final. ^[29]
• 28 November–15 December – The 2024 European Women's Handball Championship at Basel. ^[30]

December

• 7 December – Twenty-six people are hospitalised following an incident of carbon monoxide poisoning at a campsite in Giswil. ^[31]

Art and entertainment

• List of Swiss submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

Holidays

Further information: Public holidays in Switzerland

Source: ^[32]

• 1 January - New Year's Day
• 2 January - Berchtoldstag Day
• 6 January - Epiphany
• 1 March - Republic Day
• 19 March - Saint Joseph's Day
• 29 March - Good Friday
• 1 April - Easter Monday
• 4 April - Näfels Ride
• 1 May - International Workers' Day
• 9 May - Ascension Day
• 20 May - Whit Monday
• 30 May - Corpus Christi
• 29 June - Saints Peter and Paul
• 1 August - Swiss National Day
• 15 August - Assumption Day
• 5 September - Jeûne genevois
• 15 September - Lundi du Jeûne
• 25 September - Saint Nicholas of Flüe Day
• 1 November - All Saints' Day
• 8 December – Immaculate Conception
• 25 December - Christmas Day
• 26 December – Saint Stephen's Day
• 31 December – Restoration Day

Deaths

• 1 January – Niklaus Wirth, 89, computer scientist (Pascal). ^[33]
• 6 January – Kurt W. Forster, 88, architecture historian and teacher. ^[34]
• 14 January – Christophe Boesch, 72, French-Swiss primatologist. ^[35]
• 20 January – Jacques Guhl, 101, writer, poet, and footballer (Lausanne-Sport, Sion). ^[36]
• 29 May – Claude Torracinta, 89, Swiss journalist. ^[37]
• 18 August – Ulrike Hoffmann-Richter, German psychiatrist. ^[38]

References

1. "Hockey sur glace – Genève-Servette est champion d'Europe!". Tribune de Genève (in French). 2024-02-20. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
2. Bradley, Simon (2024-03-03). "Swiss vote: 'yes' to higher pensions, 'no' to retiring later". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
3. "Missing 5 cross-country skiers found dead near Switzerland's Matterhorn. Search for a 6th persists". AP News. 2024-03-11. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
4. "LGT World Men's Curling Championship 2024". World Curling. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
5. "Top European court hands Swiss women victory in landmark climate ruling". Al Jazeera. 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
6. "Swiss vote to ban swastika in crackdown on extremist symbols". Reuters . April 17, 2024.
7. "Eurovision 2024: Switzerland's Nemo wins the most controversial edition of the song contest". Euronews . May 12, 2024.
8. "Man wielding a knife injures several in Swiss town of Zofingen". May 15, 2024.
9. Plüss, Jessica Davis (2024-06-09). "Swiss voters reject limits on healthcare spending". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
10. "Swiss voters reject limits on healthcare spending". Associated Press. 2024-06-14. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
11. O'Carroll, Lisa (2024-06-15). "World leaders to gather in Swiss resort in attempt to forge Ukraine peace plan". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-06-16.
12. Kennedy, Joshua Berlinger, Niamh (2024-06-16). "Major Ukraine summit ends with fresh plea for peace but key powers spurn final agreement". CNN. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
13. "4 members of a billionaire family get prison in Switzerland for exploiting domestic workers". AP News. 2024-06-21. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
14. "1 person found dead and 2 still missing after floods, rockslide hit a Swiss Alpine village". AP News. 2024-06-24. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
15. "Reynders defeated in race to lead Council of Europe". POLITICO. 2024-06-25. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
16. "Four dead, two missing after landslides, floods in southern Switzerland". Reuters . June 30, 2024.
17. "A man armed with a machete attacks his neighbors in Switzerland, wounding 5". Associated Press. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
18. "At Least Three Dead As Scaffolding Collapses In Switzerland". Barron’s. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
19. "US announces Sudan ceasefire talks". TRT Afrika. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
20. "Swiss court convicts two executives for embezzling $1.8bn from 1MDB". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
21. "Swiss city of Basel is chosen to host next year's Eurovision Song Contest". Associated Press. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
22. "Tariq Ramadan convicted of rape in Switzerland". BBC. 10 September 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
23. "Birds, bees and ballots: Swiss voters reject plan to better protect the country's biodiversity". Associated Press. 22 September 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
24. "Multiple arrests after US woman uses machine-assisted suicide in Switzerland". France 24. 24 September 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
25. "Swiss cyclist Furrer dies after crash at Worlds". BBC. 27 September 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
26. "Switzerland and Italy redraw border due to melting glaciers". BBC. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
27. "Three children injured in knife attack at Zurich daycare centre". BBC. October 2024. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
28. "Seven lessons from the November 2024 Swiss referendums". SWI. 2024-11-24. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
29. "Eurovision 2025: Basel votes yes to funding song contest". Euronews. 2024-11-24. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
30. "New organisational structure for women's EHF EURO 2024". EHF . 16 March 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
31. "26 Suffer Carbon Monoxide Poisoning At Swiss Campground: Police". Barron's. 2024-12-08. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
32. "Switzerland Public Holidays 2024". Public Holidays Global. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
33. "Niklaus Wirth ist tot: IT-Welt trauert um Erfinder von Pascal". winfuture.de (in German). 2024-01-03. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
34. Viva, Arquitectura. "Kurt W. Forster (1935-2024) - Luis Fernández-Galiano". Arquitectura Viva. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
35. "Помер приматолог Крістоф Беш". UAZMI (in Ukrainian). 2024-01-17. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
36. "Carnet noir: Jacques Guhl, pionnier de la formation des footballeurs en Valais et poète, est décédé". Carnet noir: Jacques Guhl, pionnier de la formation des footballeurs en Valais et poète, est décédé (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-20.
37. "Décès du journaliste Claude Torracinta". Frapp (in French). Retrieved 2024-05-29.
38. "Ulrike Hoffmann-Richter (17.03.1958 - 18.08.2024)". Lebenswege. 23 August 2024.

External links

• Online calendar