Swiss National Bank Controversy

No, I'm not going to talk about a recent news item. Well I am in a kind of roundabout way. The Swiss National Bank in Zürich has a building facing the street on three sides, each with 10 large windows that are used to show a rotating theme from the Plakatsammlung (Poster Collection) of the Zürich Museum für Gestaltung.

The current exhibition is entitled "Swiss Paaradise" and shows posters advertising the joys of Swiss tourism from 1900 until the 1950's. Most are pre-war. This one above for St Moritz is 1907. It's pretty dramatic if slightly implausible (Did people really do that in 1907?)

Here is Silvaplana, also in the Engadin like St Moritz, but illustrating the summer joys of lakes and mountains from 1934.

Most of the posters illustrate the traditional activities that still prevail today. This one is slightly different though and encourages you to take your prize jalopy on a 1935 motoring holiday, over the Gotthard by the looks of it.

I suppose most people nowadays just imagine a motoring hell, and nowadays it is 6 hour queues through the Gotthard Tunnel to the fleshpots of the Mediterranean. Some people still try and relive the olden age of motoring however and there are plenty old timer rallies over the high passes, as well as hordes of motorcyclists.

Finally, the earliest poster, from 1900, of a charming young lady serenely skating in the central Swiss resort of Adelboden.

I took all of these early this morning to try and avoid reflections, and they are a bit underexposed. You can see the complete collection here. http://richardtugwell.com/swissparadies

And so, what does it have to do with the Swiss National Bank? It struck me of course that the bank is showing off one of Switzerlands key assets, and the posters show that little has changed over the last 110 years in terms of it's importance and the role it plays. The banks need to learn a lesson and go back and concentrate on their core competences. Switzerland as much as anywhere. A slight touch of irony then.