Switzerland is often called the most innovative country in the world. Why that is, and what are some of the most popular (and useful) Swiss inventions is what we’ll focus on in this guide!
The Alpine country has produced some of the most famous innovators in our history, who can be credited with inventions that have improved billions of lives for the better. From Helvetica font to the Red Cross – here’s a list of the most popular Swiss inventions we still use today!
Table of Contents
Swiss Army Knife
The Swiss Army Knife is probably the least surprising item on this list. It’s one of the most famous Swiss inventions, created by Karl Elsener way back in 1891. Eisner started a company in 1884 that manufactured surgical instruments and knives, which would later come to be known as Victorinox.
Funnily enough, it wasn’t Eisner who named this invention “The Swiss Army Knife”. The official term of the object was Offiziersmesser, which translates to officer’s knife. It was American soldiers who came up with the term “Swiss Army Knife” after WWII, simply because they had trouble pronouncing the German word.
Milk Chocolate
Out of all the different Swiss inventions, this has to be my favorite one. All hail Daniel Peter for casually combining cacao butter, cacao mass, sugar, and condensed/powdered milk, and successfully creating the milk chocolate bar.
However, the term “milk chocolate” had existed for several centuries prior to this invention. It referred to a drink brought from Jamaica to London in the late 17th century by Hans Sloane. Peter invented milk chocolate bars in 1875, nearly two centuries after the namesake drink had been introduced to Europe.
Following the invention of this recipe, Peter launched his Gala Peter chocolate brand. However, his milk chocolate was so popular that the recipe inevitably leaked to his competitors, who started producing their own versions of the delicious snack.
The invention of milk chocolates paved the way for the creation of many other versions of chocolate – Toblerone, hazelnut chocolate, KitKats, etc.
The Red Cross
The Red Cross is another famous Swiss invention that has made the world a better place. It is a humanitarian organization that operates internationally, initially created for the purpose of providing help to victims of armed conflict. Nowadays the Red Cross is even more active, providing humanitarian aid to as many people in need as they can.
The organization is headquartered in Geneva. It was founded in the 19th century by Henry Dunant, a Swiss citizen. He got the idea for this organization when he traveled to Italy in 1859, and witnessed firsthand the chaotic aftermath of the Battle of Solferino. Dunant was absolutely astounded by the bloodshed, which led him to disregard his initial reason for the trip, and instead, he stayed and helped take care of the wounded soldiers.
When he returned to Geneva, Dunant wrote a book titled A Memory of Solferino, which described the horrors he witnessed and advocated for the creation of an international humanitarian organization that would help provide care for wounded soldiers during wartime. The rest, as they say, is history.
Helvetica Font
It shouldn’t be too surprising that the Swiss are behind the invention of one of the world’s most famous fonts – it is named after Switzerland, after all! Helvetica is Latin for Swiss, but it’s important to note that the font was originally named Neue Haas Grotesk. It was renamed Helvetica only after Linotype licensed it.
The famous font, which is still one of the most used fonts in the world, was created in 1957 by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann. Miedinger was a typeface designed in Switzerland while Hoffman owned the company that officially released the font.
The entire purpose of Helvetica was to release something that was on-trend with the fonts that were popular that year; little did they know that they were creating something that would remain extremely popular for more than half a century.
Velcro
George de Mestral is a Swiss engineer who founded the Velcro IP Holdings LLC company after he came up with the idea of hook and loop fasteners. He first came up with this idea in 1941 but didn’t patent the invention until 1955.
Mestral went on a hunting trip in the Alps one day and noticed that burdock seeds would cling to his woolen socks. He realized that this could be beneficial in some way, and after subsequent research, he came up with the idea of the first-touch fastener.
The first fastener has two distinct components – a strip of fabric with tiny hooks and another with even smaller loops. The hooks and loops could “mate” when attached, and cling to one another until forcibly pulled apart. The first Velcro strap was made from cotton, but this turned out to be impractical, and it wasn’t too long until it started to be manufactured with polyester and nylon.
Electric Toothbrush
The electric toothbrush is another famous invention that has impacted the everyday life of people for the better. What’s surprising is that it was invented much earlier than I expected – the first iteration of the electric toothbrush was patented in 1937 by Tomlinson Moseley in the USA. It was known as the Motodent, but it wasn’t quite as popular as you would think.
It was big and clunky, and you needed to use it with two hands. Then in 1954, Dr. Philippe Guy Woog came up with a more compact design and called it Broxodent. The Broxodent was invented in Switzerland and it was manufactured there for several years until the production eventually moved to France and then the US.
Zipper
The Swiss apparently have a thing for clothing fasteners because they didn’t invent just Velcro but the zipper as well. Well, technically the Swiss didn’t come up with the idea of the zipper, but they definitely did perfect the modern version of it that is so ubiquitous in our world today.
The first thing with any semblance to the modern zipper was patented in 1851 and in 1913 Gideon Sundback created something that was really close to what we call a zipper today. But he wasn’t entirely happy with the design, and about a decade later he approached Martin Winterhalter, a lawyer from St. Gallen. Winterhalter purchased the patent for the European market and, in an attempt to improve it, came up with the coil zip closure. His company then started to mass-produce the modern zipper that we still know and use today.
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Aluminum Foil
Aluminum foil is a ubiquitous item in every household. Whether you need to cover up leftovers, use it in lieu of a baking sheet, or just create a ball to entertain your cat, it’s one of those items that we use on a daily basis, often without realizing it. And we have Heinrich Alfred Gautschi to thank for this invention.
Many people credit Robert Victor Neher with the invention of aluminum foil, but he only patented the process of producing it efficiently. Gautschi patented this in 1905, while Neher got his patent some 5 years later, in 1910.
World Wide Web
We can thank a Swiss national for yet another invention that has revolutionized our daily lives. Tim Berners Lee invented the World Wide Web while he worked at CERN as a computer scientist.
The World Wide Web was first created in 1989 and made public just two years later, in 1991. He imagined it as an open source of information that would be available to everyone, and with help from Robert Cailliau, who designed the first logo, managed to change all of our lives for the better.
Rex Vegetable Peeler
The Rex vegetable peeler is probably a staple tool in every kitchen. I know I can’t live without it, and I would not dare touch a potato if I didn’t have one of these handy.
It was invented in 1947 by Alfred Neweczerzal, and it has hardly changed since its first iteration. The peeler is loved for its ergonomic design that comfortably sits in your hand and allows you to peel any vegetable quickly and efficiently, without cutting too much into the edible parts.
The best thing about the original Rex peeler is that it’s virtually indestructible. It takes years and years of use to even slightly dull its edges. Also, it’s manufactured in a variety of fun and bright colors, which allows you to immediately spot it in your cutlery drawer. And it’s pretty affordable, which can’t be said for many other Swiss inventions.
LSD
LSD is probably the weirdest thing on this list. It was invented by Albert Hofmann, a Swiss chemist who was the first person to synthesize, ingest, and discover the effects of LSD. So, not only is he the person who discovered the popular synthetic drug, but he was also the first person to discover what it felt like to be on acid.
In addition to LSD, it was also Hoffman’s team synthesized the main components of psychedelic mushrooms – psilocin and psilocybin. These inventions made the Swiss talent extremely popular, so much so that he shared first place on The Daily Telegraph’s list of 100 greatest living geniuses. Hoffman split first place with Tim Berners Lee, the (also Swiss) man who invented the World Wide Web, so let that sit for a while.
Muesli
Muesli was invented in 1900 by Maximilian Bircher-Benner, a Swiss physician who developed this dish with hospitalized patients in mind. It was created as an appetizer, something that even the patients in hospitals could easily eat, and that would still give them all the nutrients they required.
Also, the first version of Muesli wasn’t that similar to what it is today. It wasn’t supposed to be a breakfast cereal at all, and instead, it was eaten as Schweizer Znacht, which is Swiss supper. His original recipe called for apples, nuts, lemon juice, rolled oats, and some sort of sweetener, usually cream and honey, or even condensed milk.
Luckily for all breakfast lovers, muesli quickly became popular outside hospitals and Bircher-Brenner’s recipe was improved quite a bit over the decades. Nowadays it’s an extremely popular breakfast food sold all over the world, and we have the Swiss to thank for it!
Absinthe
Absinthe is a Swiss drink famous for its absurdly high alcohol content and staple green color. It’s one of those drinks that you either like or you hate – there’s no in-between. If you’ve never tried it before, take small sips first – the drink is extremely strong and it does not have a good taste when drunk straight.
Of course, that’s why bartenders have come up with ways of serving it that make the drink taste a million times better. But I digress. Absinthe originated in Neuchatel canton sometime near the end of the 18th century and gained popularity during the early 19th century. It became very popular among the Parisian writers and artists who were active at this time.
FAQ
Did Switzerland invent clocks?
Nope. Even though Switzerland is world famous for its watchmaking industry, it can’t take credit for inventing the clock. Christiaan Huygens, a Dutchman, is the one who created the first pendulum clock. He was inspired by the concept developed by Galileo Galilei.
Did Switzerland invent cheese?
No, the Swiss did not invent cheese. The first recorded evidence of cheesemaking is from 5,500 BCE, uncovered in the territory of what is today Kujawy, Poland. However, researchers have reason to believe that cheesemaking existed much earlier than that, and they’ve proposed 8,000 BCE to be regarded as the official year when cheese was invented.
This is the period when sheep were first domesticated, and it’s presumed that farmers started to manufacture cheese and other dairy products not too long after. However, it’s important to note that there is no official evidence of this; it’s assumed by researchers, so don’t take those dates at face value.
A Swiss man did invent processed cheese in an attempt to prolong its shelf life, but it was an American who came up with prefabricated cheese slices.
Why is Switzerland technologically advanced?
Money is the obvious answer, but it’s a little more complicated than that. Switzerland has world-class research institutions, some of the best universities in the world, and a highly educated workforce.
These institutions generate a lot of income for the country. So, they’re able to invest a good chunk of that income back into these institutions, which enables their world-class scientists to come up with such amazing inventions.
