Swiss Cities Trivia Quiz

Answer: Zermatt

Zermatt was nothing more than a small farming community until 1865 when climbing the Matterhorn gained in popularity. It is estimated that between half and two-thirds of the population work in the tourism industry (2014 data). Zermatt is primarily German-speaking.

Answer: Lausanne

Lausanne is home to a number of vineyards and wineries that produce world-famous wines. During the Reformation, Lausanne was one of the fastest growing cities and one of the first to accept Protestantism. Lausanne became the smallest city in the world to have its own metro system when it opened in 2008.

Answer: Lugano

Lugano is famous for its hotels, museums and resorts, just like Monte Carlo in Monaco, hence the city's nickname. It also is home to an unusually high number of churches and libraries for a city its size. Lugano lies on the shores of Lake Lugano in Ticino canton.

Answer: Bern

Bern is primarily a German-speaking city, but as the Swiss capital, the other national languages (Italian, French and Romansh) are also frequently spoken. Many of Switzerland's government buildings are located in Bern, and several of them date back from the Middle Ages and were built in Gothic style.

Answer: Zurich

Zurich lies on the shores of Lake Zurich in Zurich canton. It is largely a German-speaking city. During the Protestant Reformation, Zurich was considered the de facto headquarters of Ulrich Zwingli and the largely Catholic Zurich grew increasingly more Protestant.

However, in later years the population of Zurich has been nearly split evenly between Protestants, Catholics and people who are unaffiliated with any specific denomination.

Answer: Neuchâtel

Neuchâtel is actually a corruption of neuf chatel, the French words for new castle. It was named Neuchâtel because Rudolph III of Burgundy, King of Arles, built a castle there for his wife in 1011, and it was likely planned to be the center of the kingdom he planned but never created.

Answer: St. Moritz

The 1928 Games in St. Moritz were technically the second Winter Games. The 1924 Winter Olympics were actually considered part of the Summer Games at the time. The 1928 Games saw bizarre weather as it began with a blizzard and ended with a heat wave that forced the cancellation of some events. St. Moritz is famous for its many ski slopes and snowboarding locales, many of which attract wealthy customers. German is the city's most used language.

Answer: Geneva

Geneva is one of the most famous and visited cities in Switzerland. It lies on Lake Geneva in Geneva canton. The Geneva Conventions were a groundbreaking measure that dealt with how to treat prisoners of war as well as other rules of wartime and peacetime.

Answer: Basel

Basel is a popular railway stop because it lies extremely close to the German border and near the French border. Basel is known worldwide for its theater performances which have won international recognition for theater, opera and ballet.

Answer: La Chaux-de-Fonds

La Chaux-de-fonds has a reputation for being very industrialized. Karl Marx claimed it was more of a factory than a city. Despite this, the city also has good reputation in the arts, especially things art nouveau.