Flying Trains, Floating Blocks, and Failed Attempts

Various cantons held commerce and trade shows before 1883, but these events lacked the gravitas and scope of national exhibitions. It wasn't until May 1^st, 1883, that the first official expo opened its gates at Platzspitz in Zurich. The unifying theme was industrialism, and much of the exhibition was devoted to the presentation of technical achievements. Coincidentally, the Gotthard railway had opened the previous year, which contributed to the communal feeling of progress.

International politics saw Landi 39 eclipsed by similar melancholia as its predecessor. Once again, war broke out during the event and coloured perceptions of the exhibition. Both the government and event's organisers leveraged the political situation as a rallying cry to promote national unity. One showcase, in particular, has come to symbolise Landi 39: the aerial cableway across Lake Zurich connecting the exhibition areas of Landiwiese and Zuerichhorn. More than 700,000 visitors bought tickets for the cable car, which went for CHF 1,50 – roughly the equivalent of a factory worker’s hourly wage in 1939.

All 3,089 municipality flags were raised on Expo 64's pyramid installation in Lausanne, which, in addition to a monorail, a rotating gazebo platform called Télécanapé and the hedgehog-shaped pavilion of the Swiss Federal Military Department, were the event's star attractions. For the first time, the expo attempted to address social issues. A giant Gulliver figure, for example, asked visitors for their opinions on current affairs. The results of this informal polling system were then displayed via a computer in real time. The Federal Council's censorship of certain topics, namely abortion and the military draft, gave rise to criticism and became known as the “Gulliver scandal”. Jacques Piccard made even larger waves by building a submarine for the event's attendees, the first of its kind for public use. In 1964, CHF 40 bought 25 minutes at a depth of 150 meters in Lake Geneva. Today, the submarine is on display at the Verkehrshaus in Luzern (Swiss Museum of Transport).

In 1991, a national exhibition to mark the Swiss Confederation's 700-year anniversary was supposed to take place. Since a centralised exhibition had already been voted down in the canton of Luzern in 1985, a decentralised concept was developed to include other cantons. However, this groundbreaking idea met with only modest enthusiasm. The “Collection of Events” was never realised. On the last Sunday of April 1987, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Schwyz, Zug and Uri denied the necessary loans. Instead, “Heureka”, a national research exhibition, was held in Zurich.

The last national exhibition saw Biel, Jura, Murten, Yverdon and Neuenburg come together as joint hosts after a period of stagnation, which saw many proposed expos fail. The first decentralised event of its kind saw monumental installations in Lakes Neuchâtel and Murten attracting visitors to the border between German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. Expo 02's heart, however, was the arteplage around Lake Biel, the setting of numerous exhibitions. Even though the event met with criticism – environmentalists were concerned for natural sanctuaries, and the cost far exceeded the approved budget – Expo 02 was an unprecedented success, surpassing expectations with more than ten million visitors.

In 2016, eastern Switzerland gave up on hosting a national exhibition: voters in Thurgau and St. Gallen rejected the proposed loans of 3 and 5 million Swiss Francs respectively needed to realise Expo 2027.

What's next? How will NEXPO, the innovative concept for a future national exhibition be received? Will the event's history of success be continued? In this interview, NEXPO's curating team Juri Steiner and Anne-Outram Mott share their thoughts with us.