List of massacres in Switzerland

The following is a list of massacres and mass murders that have occurred in Switzerland. A mass murder involves the murder of four or more people during the same incident.[1]

This is a list of massacres or mass murders, which includes incidents where four or more people were killed. For incidents in Switzerland where four or more people were killed OR injured using firearms, see List of mass shootings in Switzerland.

14-20th centuries
Date Location Dead Description
November 1348 Bern Jewish community killed by burning. One of the earliest massacres of the 1348/1349 persecutions in a German speaking city.[2]
November 1348 Zofingen 4 + x Four Jews killed in autumn after they had confessed under torture to have poisoned the wells. The Jewish community of Zofingen was likely burnt soon after in November 1348.[2]
November 1348 Solothurn Jewish community killed by burning.[2]
16 January 1349 Basel 50-70 Basel massacre: Jewish community burnt.
22 February 1349 Schaffhausen Jewish community burnt.[3]
23 February 1349 Zurich ≈60 Zürich massacre: The best source dates the event on evening of Feb 23 without giving further details. One source dates the event on Feb 21. The Jewish community of Zurich at that time had about 100 members out of a population of 6,000. Sources indicate that several women and children were spared as were those willing to accept baptism.
18 September 1349 Winterthur 330 Winterthur massacre: Jewish community of Winterthur and several other cities (among them Aarau) under the rule of Duke Albrecht of Austria burnt on a hill called Brühlberg. Albrecht tried in vain to protect the Jews by sheltering them for several months in his castle Kyburg, 7 km south of Winterthur.
25 June 1401 Schaffhausen 30 Schaffhausen massacre: Jews executed by burning.
25 May 1444 Greifensee 62 Garrison of a castle beheaded after successful siege, part of the Old Zürich War.
9 September 1798 Canton of Nidwalden 400+ Catholics killed by French Troops.[4]

20-21st centuries
Date Location Canton Dead Injured Total Description
30 August 1912 Romanshorn Canton of Thurgau 7 7[lower-alpha 1] 14 Romanshorn shooting: Seven people shot, seven more injured including the mentally ill perpetrator.
6 February 1922 Lumino Republic and Canton of Ticino 6[lower-alpha 1] 8 14 A man killed five people and wounded eight others in a shooting spree. The gunman killed himself.[5][6]
23 March 1927 Zürich Canton of Zürich 5[lower-alpha 1] 1 6 After his wife petitioned for divorce, a man killed four family members and wounded another before committing suicide.[7]
9 November 1932 Geneva Canton of Geneva 13 65 78 November 1932 Geneva shooting: Police and army fired on a crowd protesting a fascist demonstration.
April 1937 Eaux Vives Canton of Geneva 5[lower-alpha 1] 7 15 A man caused an explosion which killed him and four others. Seven people were wounded.[8]
26 April 1943 Zürich Canton of Zürich 7[lower-alpha 1] 0 7 A man killed six family members and himself.[9][10]
21 February 1970 Würenlingen Canton of Aargau 47 0 47 Swissair Flight 330: A bomb exploded on board of a plane killing forty-seven people.
5 June 1976 Seewen Canton of Solothurn 5 0 5 Seewen murder case: Five people shot. The crime has never been solved.
16 April 1986 Zürich Canton of Zürich 4 1 5 A man killed four colleagues and wounded a fifth at his workplace.[11] The perpetrator was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was paroled on good behavior after serving 14 years in 2000.[12] He died in 2015 in a bicycle accident.[13]
30 August 1990 Zürich Canton of Thurgau, Canton of Zürich 6[lower-alpha 1] 4 10 A man killed his family before traveling to Zurich and shooting six people, two fatally. He fled the scene and later killed himself.[14][15]
19 May 1991 Val-d'Illiez Canton of Valais 6[lower-alpha 1] 0 6 A 42-year-old man shot to death all five members of his family, before killing himself in an Alpine cottage.[16][17]
4 March 1992 Lugano District Republic and Canton of Ticino 6 6 12 Rivera massacre: A man opened fire at multiple homes, killing six and wounding six before being arrested.
5 October 1994 Cheiry, Salvan Canton of Freiburg, Canton of Valais 48 Two cult mass murder-suicides related to the Order of the Solar Temple left forty-eight people dead.[18]
27 September 2001 Zug Canton of Zug 15[lower-alpha 1] 18 33 Zug massacre: People shot in the parliament of the Canton of Zug. The perpetrator later killed himself.
29 March 2004 Escholzmatt Canton of Lucerne 5[lower-alpha 1] 0 5 A man shot and killed four family members with a pistol, before committing suicide.[19]
27 February 2013 Menznau Canton of Lucerne 5[lower-alpha 1] 5 10 2013 Menznau shooting: A man opened fire at his workplace, killing four people and wounding five before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
9 May 2015 Würenlingen Canton of Aargau 5[lower-alpha 1] 0 5 Four people killed before the perpetrator shot himself in a domestic incident.[20]
21 December 2015 Rupperswil Canton of Aargau 4 0 4 Rupperswil murder case: A man murdered four people with a knife.
9 March 2023 Yverdon-les-Bains Canton of Vaud 5[lower-alpha 1] 0 5 Police suspect that a man shot and killed his wife and three daughters before committing suicide.[21]

See also

Notes
  1. Including the perpetrator.

References
  1. Morton, Robert J.; Hilts, Mark A. (2008). Serial Murder – Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators (PDF) (Report). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  2. Winkler, Albert (2007). "The Approach of the Black Death in Switzerland and the Persecution of Jews, 1348-1349". Swiss American Historical Society. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  3. "Gedenktafel an die Ermordung der Juden im Mittelalter in Schaffhausen" [Commemorative plaque to the murder of the Jews in the Middle Ages in Schaffhausen]. Stadt Schaffhausen (in Swiss High German). 4 September 2018. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023.
  4. Peter Steiner: Nidwald §4.1.1. From the Helvetic Republic to the Federal state (1798-1848) in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 2017-05-11.
  5. "Terrifying scenes". The Pall Mall Gazette. 7 February 1922. Retrieved 30 October 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Five shot dead". Auckland Star. Vol. LIII, no. 34. 9 February 1922. p. 5. Retrieved 30 October 2022 – via Papers Past.
  7. "Man Shoots Family". The Daily Advertiser. 25 March 1927. p. 1. Retrieved 14 August 2023 – via Trove.
  8. "O barbeiro sem trabalho provocou a catastrofe" [The barber without work provoked catastrophe]. A Federação: Orgão do Partido Republicano Liberal (in Brazilian Portuguese). Vol. 54, no. 79. 6 April 1937 – via Brazilian Digital Library.
  9. "Une tragédie à Zurich" [A tragedy in Zurich]. Journal de Genéve (in Swiss French). No. 98. 27 April 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 30 October 2022 – via Le Temps.
  10. "Effroyable drame de famille à Zurich" [Appalling family tragedy in Zurich]. Gazette de Lausanne (in Swiss French). Vol. 146, no. 115. 27 April 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 30 October 2022 – via Le Temps.
  11. "Die schlimmsten Bluttaten: Eine Chronologie von Amokläufen in der Schweiz" [The worst acts of bloodshed: A chronology of rampages in Switzerland.]. Blick (in Swiss High German). 27 January 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  12. Dammann, Viktor (8 February 2016). "BLICK-Reporter Viktor Dammann erinnert sich an den Fall Tschanun: Der Mörder zeigte nur einmal Gefühle" [BLICK reporter Viktor Dammann remembers the Tschanun case: The killer showed emotions only once]. Blick (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  13. Müller, Patrik (12 April 2021). "Bericht enthüllt: Vierfachmörder Günther Tschanun war Mitglied der SP – ein SVP-Journalist zieht daraus seine Schlüsse" [Report reveals: Quadruple murderer Günther Tschanun was a member of the SP - an SVP journalist draws his conclusions from it]. Aargauer Zeitung (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  14. "Chronik der Amokläufer in der Schweiz" [Chronicle of the spree killers in Switzerland]. Beobachter (in Swiss High German). 8 October 2001. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  15. "Hunt After Killings". Birmingham Evening Mail. 31 August 1990. p. 15. Retrieved 30 October 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Swiss Take New Look At Gun Control Laws". The Mount Airy News. Vol. 112, no. 56. Associated Press. 6 March 1992. p. 13. Retrieved 21 June 2023 – via Google News.
  17. "Une famille anéantie: six morts" [A family wiped out: six dead]. Le Nouvelliste (in Swiss French). Vol. 24, no. 115. 21 May 1991. p. 5. Retrieved 25 July 2023 – via e-newspaperarchives.ch.
  18. "48 Morde in 24 Stunden erschütterten die Schweiz" [48 murders in 24 hours shook Switzerland]. 20 Minuten (in Swiss High German). 5 October 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  19. "10 Jahre nach der Bluttat von Escholzmatt LU geht es den Vollwaisen wieder gut" [10 years after the bloody deed in Escholzmatt LU, the orphans are doing well again]. Watson (in Swiss High German). 23 March 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  20. Elgot, Jessica (10 May 2015). "Gunman kills four people and himself in 'family dispute' in northern Switzerland". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  21. "Familienvater erschießt eigene Frau und drei Töchter" [Father of a family shoots his wife and three daughters]. Heute (in Swiss High German). 11 March 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
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