Bern 1942: Warming up for a little city skiing
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Bern 1944: Extra, extra ... snow
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Zurich 1955: When shoes are more like slippers
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Zurich 1963: Lake Zurich froze solid enough to carry a crowd.
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Zurich 1963: Even camels and a llama from Knie Circus hit the ice on Lake Zurich.
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Lake Constance 1963: Creative DIY methods to avoid slipping on the ice
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La Chaux-de-Fonds 1952: Shovelling out the Swiss watch capital
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Geneva 1938: Slow going round a snowy roundabout
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Geneva 1970: Directing the sparse winter traffic
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Geneva 1938: Cold comfort in a park
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Snow in Swiss cities is sparse these days. This was not always the case, as historical black-and-white photographs taken between 1930 and 1970 show.
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Catherine Waibel
A look back into the Swiss winter wonderland of yore reveals heavy snowfall and sub-zero temperatures, even in major cities such as Bern, Zurich and Geneva. In the winter of 1962/1963, lakes Zurich and Constance froze over, making it possible for people to walk on the ice. Even the camels from the Knie Circus trekked across frozen Lake Zurich.
In our series #swisshistorypics we travel back in time to look at photographs which document past life and culture in Switzerland.
Translated by Susan Misicka
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Ample snowfall signals arrival of Swiss winter
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The Swiss meteorological service, MeteoSwissExternal link, forecasts plenty more snowfall to come in the coming week. The reason is that a moist, warm front has accumulated over the alps from the north. The southeastern canton of Graubünden saw 40 to 70 centimetres of snowfall on Saturday and into Sunday morning. The village of St Antönien,…
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In the past almost two-thirds of Swiss territory was covered by snow; now it is only about half, according to satellite data.
Fifty years of going flat out on frozen Swiss lakes
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.