Government ministers have spoken at various events across the country to mark the Swiss National Day, held each year on August 1.
The seven members of the Federal Council are speaking a total of eleven times on a day marked largely by speeches, communal brunches, bonfires and fireworks displays.
Interior Minister Alain Berset, who currently holds the rotating Swiss presidency, said in Fribourg that Switzerland needed to continue moving and innovating, even at a time of political, climate, and economic difficulty.
Berset also referred to the country’s constitution, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year, as a document of “courage, confidence, and self-questioning”.
The president had earlier sent a message to the Swiss Abroad community via a pre-recorded video.
His colleague Albert Rösti meanwhile said in a speech in southern canton Ticino that Switzerland should stick to its own path, even if it can lead it to being at odds with trends in other nations. He also warned against getting too used to the comparatively comfortable situation in which the country finds itself.
Justice Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, in her first year in government, meanwhile had the honour of speaking at the symbolic Rütli meadow in central Switzerland, where in 1291 the legendary founding fathers of the confederation gathered to swear an oath of allegiance.
Baume-Schneider particularly addressed younger people who had gathered on site, urging them to get more involved in politics and decision-making.
Other ministers spoke in St Gallen (Karin Keller-Sutter), Lucerne (Viola Amherd), and Fribourg (Guy Parmelin); foreign minster Ignazio Cassis made an address on his travels in Jakarta, Indonesia.