Chaplin's Home Turned Museum
Charlie Chaplin lived with his family in the vast estate near Vevey from 1953 until his death in 1977, and the estate is now home to the Chaplin's World museum.
Chaplin's World · · 🏛️ Legendary
Discover 60 curated stories about Vevey in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland — covering hidden gems, dark history, legends, weird facts and funny anecdotes.
Charlie Chaplin lived with his family in the vast estate near Vevey from 1953 until his death in 1977, and the estate is now home to the Chaplin's World museum.
Chaplin's World · · 🏛️ Legendary
The world's first milk chocolate was invented by Daniel Peter in 1875 at his factory located at Rue des Bosquets 14 in Vevey.
Rue des Bosquets · · 🏛️ Legendary
A woman working at the Nestlé nursery in Vevey adopted 7 children in 1956, a remarkable act of kindness and generosity.
Nestlé nursery · · 🏛️ Legendary
The festival features a coronation ceremony to honor the best vineyard workers, a tradition that started in 1791, and includes characters like Bacchus, Ceres, and Silenus.
Vevey Marketplace · · 🤯 Weird
In front of the Alimentarium, a giant 8-meter tall stainless steel fork was installed in 1995 to mark the museum's tenth anniversary, and after being removed, it was reinstated over a decade later du…
Alimentarium · · 🤯 Weird
The Fork of Vevey, an 8-metre-tall stainless steel fork, stands on the shore of Lake Geneva, a bizarre monument that has become a local landmark.
Lake Geneva Shore · 🤯 Weird
A devastating fire broke out at the Gilamont-Village complex in Vevey on February 23, 1999, spreading rapidly from the ground floor to the fifth floor and forcing residents to jump from the building…
Gilamont-Village · · 💀 Dark history
The Collège Primaire des Garçons in Vevey, now known as the Collège de la Veveyse, was converted into a lazaret during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.
Collège de la Veveyse · · 💀 Dark history
Maria Belgia, a Portuguese princess, was exiled and found refuge in Geneva and later in the canton of Vaud, where she died in 1647.
Quai Maria Belgia · · 🏛️ Legendary
The Fête des Vignerons in Vevey's Place du Marché featured a performance of the Ranz des vaches by a soloist, Placide Curtat, for the first time in 1889, solidifying the song's symbolic significance…
Place du Marché · · 🏛️ Legendary
In 1917, during World War I, the 'TIM' Association of charity was founded in Vevey's rue des Bosquets to provide occupation for French and Belgian soldiers interned in Switzerland, who were producing…
rue des Bosquets · · 🔍 Hidden gems
A giant birthday cake was placed in the roundabout in front of the Vevey train station to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Manor department store, sparking controversy among locals.
Vevey train station · · 😂 Funny
The Infré tea factory in Vevey was the first company to ever decaffeinate tea, producing a few dozen kilograms of decaf tea per day when it started in 1946.
Infré tea factory · · 🤯 Weird
In the 19th century, Vevey's Christmas celebrations involved a bizarre tradition where people would melt lead and pour it into cold water to predict their future.
Vevey · · 🤯 Weird
Gustave Eiffel, the famous engineer, discovered Vevey while visiting his friend Maurice Koechlin, the actual designer of the Eiffel Tower, and later bought a villa on the lake shore in 1893.
Vevey Lake Shore · · 🏛️ Legendary
Gustave Eiffel, the famous engineer, owned a summer house called Villa Claire in Vevey, where he spent his summers with his family, escaping the scandal of the Panama Canal affair.
Villa Claire · · 🏛️ Legendary
Gustave Eiffel was condemned to two years in prison and a fine of 20,000 francs in 1893 for his alleged involvement in the Panama Canal scandal, but was later acquitted.
Paris Court · · 💀 Dark history
The Ville de Vevey steamboat, which served Vevey, sank at the mouth of the Rhône in 1885, requiring the Winkelried to attempt a rescue.
Rhône Mouth · · 💀 Dark history
The two towers of Gilamont in Vevey feature giant frescoes of Charlie Chaplin, designed by Franck Bouroullec, which were inaugurated in 2011 and are among the largest in Switzerland.
Tours-de-Gilamont · · 🏛️ Legendary
The Ville de Vevey steamboat, which was launched in 1881, had a short career, suffering an accident in 1885 and disappearing from records by 1906.
Vevey · · 💀 Dark history
In the kiosque des Escaliers du Rivage, an artist named Koko created a fresque using 18,365 plastic bottle caps, which were collected and sealed with mortar, one by one.
Kiosque des Escaliers du Rivage · · 🤯 Weird
Mike Ingle, a longtime animator in Vevey, was not recognized by the municipality on the 40th anniversary of the Festival Animai, despite his decades-long contributions to the city's cultural scene.
Vevey · · 🏛️ Legendary
François Demierre, a blind organist, played at St Martin's Church in Vevey from 1919 to 1975, despite losing his sight at a young age.
St Martin's Church · · 🏛️ Legendary
The Eglise de Vevey St Martin's tower was damaged by a hurricane in 1563, which tore off the spire that topped the tower, and it was never rebuilt.
Eglise de Vevey St Martin · · 🤯 Weird
Charlie Chaplin lived at the Manoir de Ban in Corsier-sur-Vevey for 25 years until his death in 1977. A museum dedicated to his life and work was opened on the estate in 2016.
Manoir de Ban · · 🏛️ Legendary
A violent dispute over loud music on a bus in Vevey escalated into a physical attack, leaving a 54-year-old man in a coma after being punched in the face and hitting his head on the ground.
Vevey Bus Stop · · 💀 Dark history
A 16-year-old boy died in Vevey after getting stuck in a sliding door while trying to break into a sandwich shop.
Vevey · · 💀 Dark history
In 2023, Musikvertrieb AG, the label that once had Luca Hänni under contract, evicted over 300 tenants at Hardstrasse in Zurich to gut-renovate the building, sparking weeks of protest in the courtyar…
Hardstrasse · · 💀 Dark history
Edi's Weinstube in Zurich's Niederdorf district is known for its 5-franc wine and walls covered in old pornographic magazines, but it was saved from closure by a 12-hour rave party in the former Stüs…
Edi's Weinstube · · 🤯 Weird
A sneaky fox in Montreux has been stealing shoes from a resident's front yard, with the total count reaching at least seven shoes and slippers, including a pricey Vans sneaker.
Montreux · · 😂 Funny
In 1898, workers stumbled upon a series of seven ancient skeletons while constructing the Boulevard St-Martin in Vevey, leading to a significant archaeological discovery.
Boulevard St-Martin · · 🔍 Hidden gems
The lake was heavily polluted in the late 1960s, with visibility underwater near zero, and the fish population was almost wiped out due to eutrophication.
Lake Geneva · · 💀 Dark history
The average temperature of deep water in the lake increased by 1.1°C between 1963 and 2016, likely due to climate change.
Lake Geneva · · 🔍 Hidden gems
The Alimentarium, a food museum located in Vevey, was founded by Nestle and features a unique collection of food-related artifacts and exhibits.
Alimentarium · 🔍 Hidden gems
The Cailler chocolate company, founded by François-Louis Cailler in 1819, was initially plagued by difficulties, including a bankruptcy in 1826, before specializing in milk chocolate in the late 19th…
Vevey · · 🏛️ Legendary
Infré, the first company to decaffeinate tea, was founded in Vevey in 1946 and initially produced a few dozen kilograms of decaffeinated tea per day in a small artisanal workshop on Avenue de Gilamon…
Avenue de Gilamont · · 🏛️ Legendary
The ACMV (Ateliers de constructions mécaniques de Vevey) factory, which produced high-precision parts for the Swiss Army's Pz 68 tanks, was demolished in 2008 after the company ceased operations.
ACMV factory · · 🏛️ Legendary
The L'ex UNIP building in Vevey was constructed in the mid-1960s and featured a unique design with a large oriel window on the first floor, which was later modified during renovations.
L'ex UNIP building · · 🤯 Weird
The L'ex UNIP building in Vevey had a self-service restaurant on the first floor, which was a popular meeting spot for locals and featured a unique tapis roulant system for clearing tables.
L'ex UNIP building · · 🤯 Weird
Gustave Courbet sculpted two identical bas-reliefs for a building on Quai Perdonnet in Vevey, which were later exhibited and sold as 'La mouette du Lac Léman' in 1876.
Quai Perdonnet · · 🏛️ Legendary
The Bains Payants, a iconic bathhouse in Vevey, was demolished in 1983 after being a prominent feature of the city's landscape.
Bains Payants · · 🔍 Hidden gems
Clara Haskil recorded Ferruccio Busoni's Sonate No 2 en mi mineur, Op. 36a, with Peter Rybar in Vevey on December 31, 1954.
Vevey · · 🏛️ Legendary
The Von Gunten company, located at the corner of Rue du Torrent and Rue de la Madeleine, closed its doors in 1998 after 100 years of operation, marking the end of an era for Vevey's industrial herita…
Rue du Torrent and Rue de la Madeleine · · 🔍 Hidden gems
The Centurion, a kinetic artwork by Charles Morgan, is installed at the bottom of the Place-du-Marché in Vevey, inspired by the works of Jean Tinguely.
Place-du-Marché · 🔍 Hidden gems
The traditional St-Martin's Fair in Vevey has been held on the second Tuesday of November for centuries, featuring a massive ox roast that serves over 700 portions.
Vevey · 🏛️ Legendary
The Vevey-Corseaux beach diving platform was closed permanently after a serious accident in the 1980s due to the instability of the lake's shoreline.
Vevey-Corseaux beach · · 💀 Dark history
The Veveyse river, which runs through the city of Vevey, has undergone significant changes in recent years, including the construction of new buildings and the transformation of former industrial sit…
Veveyse river · 🤯 Weird
The funicular of Mont-Pèlerin, which connects Vevey to the top of the mountain, has been in operation since the early 20th century and offers stunning views of Lake Geneva.
Mont-Pèlerin · · 🏛️ Legendary
The artist David 'NadaOne' Duvoisin, known for his vibrant street art, has created a mural in Vevey that showcases his unique style and adds to the city's cultural landscape.
Vevey · 🔍 Hidden gems
During the 19th century, young couples in Vevey would disguise themselves as shepherds and shepherdesses, carrying houlettes and singing Christmas carols from house to house.
Vevey · · 🤯 Weird
The Grand Hôtel in Vevey, where Gustave Eiffel would moor his steamboat 'Walkyrie', was demolished in 1956 to make way for the new Nestlé headquarters.
Grand Hôtel · · 🔍 Hidden gems
Maurice Koechlin, the Swiss engineer who designed the Eiffel Tower, was married to a woman from Vevey, Emma Rossier, and it was through this connection that Gustave Eiffel discovered the town.
Vevey · 🏛️ Legendary
The 'Walkyrie', Gustave Eiffel's 19-meter-long steamboat, was later sold and now navigates Lake Geneva, a testament to the engineer's love of navigation.
Lake Geneva · 🏛️ Legendary
Gustave Eiffel owned a luxurious steamboat called 'La Walkyrie', which was moored in the private harbor of his Villa Claire in Vevey.
Villa Claire · · 🏛️ Legendary
Every year, Gustave Eiffel organized a Venetian festival in the garden of his Villa Claire in Vevey, complete with fireworks and music.
Villa Claire · 🏛️ Legendary
The Villa Claire, Gustave Eiffel's summer house in Vevey, was demolished in 1989 to make way for the construction of the Nestlé headquarters.
Villa Claire · · 💀 Dark history
Gustave Courbet, a famous artist, donated a fountain with a bust of Liberté to La Tour-de-Peilz, a neighboring town of Vevey, as a gesture of gratitude for the hospitality he received.
La Tour-de-Peilz · 🏛️ Legendary
The Gracieux hippocampe sculpture by Edouard Marcel Sandoz, which had disappeared, has been reinstalled in its original basin in Vevey, where it can be admired once again.
Vevey · 🔍 Hidden gems
Vincent Celotti, a Veveysan artist, restored a bronze fountain featuring marmots, which was originally located in Zermatt, using sablage, soldering, and other techniques to return it to its original…
Atelier de Vincent Celotti · · 🔍 Hidden gems
François Demierre designed the new organs for St Martin's Church in Vevey, which were inaugurated in 1954, in collaboration with French organist André Marchal.
St Martin's Church · · 🔍 Hidden gems
💀 Dark history · 😂 Funny · 🔍 Hidden gems · 🏛️ Legendary · 🤯 Weird
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