The history of the Swiss National Bank

The main façade of the SNB building in Berne circa 1930. Source: SNB Archives.

Since the Swiss National Bank commenced operations in 1907, it has had a strong impact on economic policy in Switzerland. Here you will find information that will help you to understand the history of the SNB and its actions.

The SNB’s main building in Zurich on 1 August 1922
The SNB’s main building in Zurich on 1 August 1922

Chronicle of monetary events

Here you will find the detailed chronicle of monetary events at the SNB, from 1848 until today.

Elegant meeting room with portrait gallery of past SNB board members

Short biographies

Find all short biographies of the presidents of the Bank Council and members of the Governing Board here.

The Pfister Building in Zurich 1922–2022

To mark the centenary of the SNB’s main building at Börsenstrasse 15, the SNB published ‘The Swiss National Bank in Zurich: The Pfister Building 1922–2022’ (Verlag Scheidegger & Spiess) in September 2022.

In 1922, a decade after the Swiss National Bank had moved into its legal and administrative headquarters in a neo-baroque building in Berne, the bank’s Zurich-based governing board received its own grand office building in Zurich. And that city was provided with a new landmark. The centenary was the occasion for a comprehensive celebration of this major work by architects Otto and Werner Pfister, a key example of neoclassicism in Switzerland.

The book showcases the architecture and documents the construction history of the building from its planning to the present day, including the structural adjustments made to meet changing requirements. It also sheds light on the international economic and cultural context, on the rise of Zurich as a financial centre, on the foundation of the SNB, and on the consequences for the city’s architectural and urban development. Two essays discuss the Pfister brothers’ SNB building typologically in the light of bank architecture since the Middle Ages, with special attention paid to other such constructions. The Pfister building is also considered in the wider context of the brothers’ complete oeuvre. Abundantly illustrated with historical images, plans and other archival material as well as photo essays on the building today, the volume pays tribute to a piece of public architecture that combines monumentality, pragmatism and restraint.

Book cover "Die Schweizerische Nationalbank in Zürich"
Thomas Jordan, Mayor Corine Mauch, Thomas Kramer, Managing Director of Scheidegger & Spiess and ETH Zurich President Joël Mesot, celebrate the publication at the Metropol.
Thomas Jordan, Mayor Corine Mauch, Thomas Kramer, Managing Director of Scheidegger & Spiess and ETH Zurich President Joël Mesot, celebrate the publication at the Metropol.

SNB celebrates 100th anniversary of building in Berne

The Swiss National Bank’s head office, on the Bundesplatz in Berne, was inaugurated in 1912. To mark its anniversary, the SNB, together with the Society for Art History in Switzerland, published an illustrated volume.

The main façade of the SNB building in Berne. Elevation drawn by architect Eduard Joos, 1912
The main façade of the SNB building in Berne. Elevation drawn by architect Eduard Joos, 1912

Commemorative album 'The Swiss National Bank in Berne - an illustrated chronicle'

Inaugurated on 20 January 1912, the Swiss National Bank's head office on Bundesplatz 1 in Berne recently marked its 100th anniversary with a celebration, which took place on 19 January 2012. To honour the occasion, the SNB, together with the Society for Art History in Switzerland, published an illustrated book.

'The Swiss franc – a success story'

‘Der Schweizer Franken – eine Erfolgsgeschichte’ (The Swiss franc – a success story) was commissioned by the Swiss National Bank. It is the first book to provide an overview of the history of Switzerland’s currency in the 19th and 20th centuries. The author is the internationally renowned monetary policy expert and economist Ernst Baltensperger. The launch of the German first edition took place on 3 October 2012 in Zurich.

Book Cover
Entrance to the SNB’s library in Zurich

On-site services

Discover the intriguing publications in the SNB’s library holdings.

Open to the public, the SNB’s library offers access to books and academic journals on monetary policy, economics, cash and banking.

Archive staff

Visit the SNB archives

The Swiss monetary policy records are stored in the SNB archives.

Historical Time Series

The Swiss National Bank celebrated its centenary in 2007 and marked the occasion by launching a new publication series featuring historical statistical data.

The SNB’s centenary

In 2007, the Swiss National Bank celebrated its centenary. The official ceremonies commemorating the SNB’s anniversary took place on 21 and 22 June 2007 in Zurich.

Main Building in Zurich, cartouche showing the years of construction below the cornice on the Fraumünsterstrasse side
Main Building in Zurich, cartouche showing the years of construction below the cornice on the Fraumünsterstrasse side

Centenary – Annual Report 2007

Learn all about the Swiss National Bank’s centenary and its official commemoration here.

Documentation of the celebration

Bibliography

In 1957, to mark its 50th anniversary, the Swiss National Bank published the ‘Swiss Bibliography on Money and Central Banking’ as a supplement to its commemorative publication. A follow-up volume was published on the occasion of the SNB’s 75th anniversary in 1982.

The SNB building in Zurich in 1923, one year after completion

Speech

The Swiss Economy during the Great Depression

Gold standard, deflation and depression: Read a text on the Swiss economy during the Great Depression published in the Quarterly Bulletin 2/2003.

Gold transactions during the Second World War

As part of the reappraisal of Switzerland’s relationship with Germany during the Second World War, the SNB examined its gold transactions with the German Reichsbank.

Safety deposit boxes at the SNB
Safety deposit boxes at the SNB

The monetary policy background of the gold transactions of the SNB in the Second World War (Crettol/Halbeisen 1999)

The SNB’s main concern during the War was to strengthen confidence in the currency, to control prices and to ensure that Switzerland remained solvent, and thus able to supply the nation’s needs. The first part of the study shows that the SNB’s decision to adhere to the principle of the gold standard can be explained by the desire to avoid a repetition of the negative monetary experiences during the First World War. Moreover, the SNB aimed to pursue a strategy oriented to the economic structure of the country which had permitted it to survive the monetary turbulence of the 1930s relatively unscathed. The second part addresses the periods during the War of greatest relevance to monetary policy. It shows that the SNB tried to achieve its aims by pragmatic means. In general, it adhered to the principle of the gold standard, only deviating from it when it deemed any of its goals under threat. At certain times, foreign policy considerations also played a part that should not be underestimated.

In view of the goal of maintaining confidence in the currency, of price stability and of safeguarding vital supplies, adhering to the convertibility of gold in principle even during the War was an appropriate strategy. The purchases of gold – of increasingly dubious origin – from the Deutsche Reichsbank entailed by this strategy, however, represented the other side of the coin. The question thus arises whether the SNB could not have pursued a strategy that would have taken account of the political, legal and moral issues while not posing a threat to its monetary goals.

The study draws the conclusion that in the first half of the War a substantial reduction of gold purchases from Germany could have jeopardised one or the other of the goals pursued by the SNB. From 1943 onwards, however, the SNB was provided with the monetary leeway that would have made it possible to limit its operations with the Reichsbank without incurring significant monetary risks. The reason it did not revise its policy sooner despite the warnings of the Allies goes beyond the scope of this investigation. The authors do nevertheless suspect that the decisive factor was a false assessment of the political, legal and moral aspects of the gold transactions with the Deutsche Reichsbank.

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