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69-672: After the Gotthard Road Tunnel , this is Switzerland's second-longest road tunnel but unlike the Gotthard Tunnel which crosses the Alps completely north to south, the Seelisberg Tunnel is situated only in the northern side of Alps. The Seelisberg tunnel can be considered to be the longest Swiss twin tube Road tunnel with split traffic (Southbound in one bore, and Northbound in another one). The accident rate in

138-414: A 10 centimes coin; Zwänzgräppler for a 20 centimes coin; Stutz or Franke for a 1 franc coin or change in general; Füüfliiber for a 5 francs coin; Rappe and Batze are specifically used for coin below 1 franc, but also figuratively for change in general The Swiss franc , or simply the franc , is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein . It

207-566: A Russian-owned spread betting firm established in the UK, temporarily declared insolvency before announcing its desire to be acquired (and later denied rumours of an acquisition) by FXCM . FXCM was bailed out by its parent company. Saxo Bank of Denmark reported losses on 19 January 2015. New Zealand foreign exchange broker Global Brokers NZ announced it "could no longer meet New Zealand regulators' minimum capital requirements" and terminated its business. Coins before 1700 were based on either

276-462: A Swiss bank account. This devaluation of the euro against the franc was expected to hurt Switzerland's large export industry. The Swatch Group , for example, saw its shares drop 15% (in Swiss franc terms) with the announcements so that the share price may have increased on that day in terms of other major currencies. The large and unexpected jump caused major losses for some currency traders. Alpari ,

345-472: A frequent confusion with the 100-franc note, and that the 10-franc note was changed from red to yellow. The size of the notes was changed as well, with all notes from the eighth series having the same height (74 mm), while the widths were changed as well, still increasing with the value of the notes. The new series contain many more security features than the previous ones; many of them are now visibly displayed and have been widely advertised, in contrast with

414-830: A gold-selling program, the Swiss National Bank held 1,290 tonnes of gold in reserves, which equated to 20% of its assets. In November 2014, the referendum on the "Swiss Gold Initiative", which proposed a restoration of 20% gold backing for the Swiss franc, was voted down. The onset of the Greek sovereign debt crisis resulted in a strong appreciation in the value of the Swiss franc, past US$ 1.10 (CHF 0.91 per USD) in March 2011, to US$ 1.20 (CHF 0.833 per USD) in June 2011, and to US$ 1.30 (CHF 0.769 per USD) in August 2011. This prompted

483-437: A major contract for the project was awarded in August 2022. A joint venture between Frutiger , Implenia and Webuild & CSC SA were hired to construct the new tube and a parallel access tunnel. As of 2023 , the access tunnel was under construction, while work on the road tunnel was to commence in 2025. The works are scheduled to be completed in 2029. The original tunnel will then close for refurbishment, reopening alongside

552-404: A monetary concordate , issuing standardised coins, the so-called Konkordanzbatzen , still carrying the coat of arms of the issuing canton, but interchangeable and identical in value. The reverse side of the coin displayed a Swiss cross with the letter C in the center. The Konkordanzbatzen among the Swiss cantons agreeing on an exclusive issue of currency in francs and batzen failed to replace

621-543: A year-round road link from the Swiss Plateau to southern Switzerland, and from northern to southern Europe as well, to be used in place of the Gotthard Pass. The tunnel was built roughly parallel to the old railway tunnel, with portals a few hundred metres away from those of the railway. Prior to the opening of the tunnel, cars were transported through the nearby railway tunnel on car shuttle trains . Following

690-545: Is 80 km/h (50 mph). Heavily used, the tunnel often has traffic jams during peak holiday seasons over Easter and summer, on both the north and south ends. In contrast, another tunnel through the Alps, the San Bernardino road tunnel as part of the A13 in the canton of Graubünden further east, is relatively uncongested and shorter. Swiss franc Füfräppler for a 5 centimes coin; Zëhräppler for

759-645: Is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the federal mint Swissmint issues coins . It is also designated through currency signs Fr. (in German language ), fr. (in French , Italian , Romansh languages ), as well as in any other language, or internationally as CHF which stands for Confoederatio Helvetica Franc. This acronym also serves as

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828-545: Is used for language-neutral inscriptions on its coins. Before 1798, about 75 entities were making coins in Switzerland, including the 25 cantons and half-cantons, 16 cities, and abbeys, resulting in about 860 different coins in circulation, with different values, denominations and monetary systems. However, the origins of a majority of these currencies can be traced to either the French livre tournois (the predecessor of

897-560: The florin petite monnaie , with 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 florins equal to the livre courant . After 1641, the Spanish dollar was worth 10 + 1 ⁄ 2 florins or 3 livres. Afterwards, the écu was valued at 12 + 3 ⁄ 4 florins or 3 + 9 ⁄ 14 livres, while the kronenthaler was valued at 12 + 3 ⁄ 8 florins or 3 + 15 ⁄ 28 livres. See also Geneva thaler and Geneva genevoise . Many currencies of central and eastern Switzerland originated from

966-467: The Bretton Woods system with its exchange rate to the dollar fixed until 1970. The Swiss franc has historically been considered a safe-haven currency , with a legal requirement that a minimum of 40% be backed by gold reserves . However, this link to gold, which dated from the 1920s, was terminated on 1 May 2000 following a referendum , making the franc fiat money . By March 2005, following

1035-532: The Deutsche mark and maintained it, although at the cost of high inflation. Until mid-January 2015, the franc continued to trade below the target level set by the SNB, though the ceiling was broken at least once on 5 April 2012, albeit briefly. On 18 December 2014, the Swiss central bank introduced a negative interest rate on bank deposits to support its CHF ceiling. However, with the euro declining in value over

1104-525: The Federal Council (cabinet) and National Bank proposed in April 2017 to remove the time limit on exchanges for the sixth and future recalled series. As of 2020, this proposal was enacted, so old banknote series will not expire. The seventh series was printed in 1984, but kept as a "reserve series", ready to be used if, for example, wide counterfeiting of the current series suddenly happened. When

1173-640: The French franc ) or the South German gulden of the 17th century. The new Swiss currencies emerged in the 18th century after Swiss cantons did not follow the pace of depreciations which occurred in France and Germany. However, they mostly existed only in small change as they were little more than community currency , current in one canton but not in the other, and foreign coins like French francs and kronenthalers were more recognized as currency all over Switzerland. A high-level summary of existing currencies at

1242-705: The Gotthard Base Tunnel (a second rail tunnel, 57 km [35 mi] long), is the world's longest. It was built for the use of trains travelling from northern Switzerland to the Ticino area and beyond. The Gotthard Tunnel is the core and culminating point of the A2 motorway in Switzerland, running south from Basel through the tunnel down to Chiasso on the border with Italy. Traffic flows through only one tunnel, which carries traffic both ways, with each direction allocated one lane. The tunnel's speed limit

1311-657: The ISO 4217 currency code, used by banks and financial institutions. The smaller denomination, a hundredth of a franc, is a Rappen (Rp.) in German, centime (c.) in French, centesimo (ct.) in Italian, and rap (rp.) in Romansh. The official symbols Fr. (German symbol) and fr. (Latin languages) are widely used by businesses and advertisers, also for the English language. According to Art. 1 SR/RS 941.101 of

1380-537: The Mediation period (1803–1814). These 19 cantonal currencies were the Appenzell frank , Argovia frank , Basel frank , Berne frank , Fribourg frank , Geneva franc , Glarus frank , Graubünden frank , Luzern frank , St. Gallen frank , Schaffhausen frank , Schwyz frank , Solothurn frank , Thurgau frank , Ticino franco , Unterwalden frank , Uri frank , Vaud franc , and Zürich frank . After 1815,

1449-443: The South German gulden . It was divided into 40 schilling or 60 kreuzer , and the thaler was worth 2 gulden. After 1690, this gulden was worth 1 ⁄ 2 a Reichsthaler specie, or 12.992 g fine silver. After 1730, the different guilders of Southern Germany and Switzerland fragmented under varying rates of depreciation. The South German gulden , worth 1 ⁄ 24 a Cologne mark (233.856 g) of fine silver, also applied to

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1518-545: The Swiss National Bank took over the issuance of banknotes from the cantons and various banks. It introduced denominations of 50, 100, 500 and 1000 francs. Twenty-franc notes were introduced in 1911, followed by 5-franc notes in 1913. In 1914, the Federal Treasury issued paper money in denominations of 5, 10 and 20 francs. These notes were issued in three different versions: French, German and Italian. The State Loan Bank also issued 25-franc notes that year. In 1952,

1587-545: The franc or frank , modelled on the Bern livre worth 1 ⁄ 4 the écu, subdivided into 10 batzen or 100 rappen (centimes) . It contained 6 + 2 ⁄ 3 grams of fine silver and was initially worth 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 livres tournois or 1.48 French francs . This franc was issued until the end of the Helvetic Republic in 1803, but served as the model for the currencies of several cantons in

1656-468: The restored Swiss Confederacy attempted to simplify the system of currencies once again. As of 1820, a total of 8,000 distinct coins were current in Switzerland: those issued by cantons, cities, abbeys, and principalities or lordships, mixed with surviving coins of the Helvetic Republic and the pre-1798 Helvetic Republic. In 1825, the cantons of Bern, Basel, Fribourg, Solothurn, Aargau, and Vaud formed

1725-547: The 10-franc note (18 October 2017), the 200-franc note (15 August 2018), the 1000-franc note (5 March 2019), and the 100-franc note (12 September 2019). All banknotes from the eighth series were withdrawn on 30 April 2021, but, like banknotes of the sixth series withdrawn in 2000, remain indefinitely redeemable at the Swiss National Bank. The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein and also legal tender in

1794-597: The 23rd canton of the Swiss Confederation. The 10 centime coins from 1879 onwards (except the years 1918–19 and 1932–1939) have had the same composition, size, and design to present and are still legal tender and found in circulation. For this, the coin entered the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest original currency in circulation. All Swiss coins are language-neutral with respect to Switzerland's four national languages, featuring only numerals,

1863-463: The 5 centime and 10 centime coins and by nickel in the 20 centime piece. Gold coins in denominations of 10, 20, and 100 francs, known as Vreneli , circulated until 1936. Both world wars only had a small effect on the Swiss coinage, with brass and zinc coins temporarily being issued. In 1931, the mass of the 5 franc coin was reduced from 25 grams to 15, with the silver content reduced to .835 fineness. The next year, nickel replaced cupronickel in

1932-404: The 5 centime and 10 centime coins. In the late 1960s, the prices of internationally traded commodities rose significantly. A silver coin's metal value exceeded its monetary value, and many were being sent abroad for melting, which prompted the federal government to make this practice illegal. The statute was of little effect, and the melting of francs only subsided when the collectible value of

2001-414: The 5 centimes, 10 centime and 20 centime in billon (with 5% to 15% silver content); and the 1 ⁄ 2 franc, 1 franc, 2 franc and 5 franc in .900 fine silver . Between 1860 and 1863, .800 fine silver was used, before the standard used in France of .835 fineness was adopted for all silver coins except the 5 francs (which remained .900 fineness) in 1875. In 1879, billon was replaced by cupronickel in

2070-461: The 5 francs coins in 1888, 1922, 1924 (minor), and 1931 (mostly just a size reduction). A new design for the bronze coins was used from 1948. Coins depicting a ring of stars (such as the 1 franc coin seen beside this paragraph) were altered from 22 stars to 23 stars in 1983; since the stars represent the Swiss cantons, the design was updated when in 1979 Jura seceded from the Canton of Bern and became

2139-1257: The French livre tournois system (in Louis d'Argent, Louis d'Or and fractions) or the South German gulden system (in Reichsthalers , florins and fractions). After 1700 Swiss cantonal currencies diverged from the value of the French and German units. However, they mostly existed only in small change as they were a mere community currency, current in one canton but not in the other, and foreign coins like French francs and Brabant dollars were more recognized as currency all over Switzerland. Between 1798 and 1803, billon coins were issued in denominations of 1 centime, 1 ⁄ 2 batzen, and 1 batzen. Silver coins were issued for 10, 20 and 40 batzen (also denominated 4 francs), matching with French coins worth 1 ⁄ 4 , 1 ⁄ 2 and 1 écu. Gold 16- and 32-franc coins were issued in 1800, also matching with French coins worth 24 and 48 livres tournois. In 1850, coins were introduced in denominations of 1 centime , 2 centimes , 5 centimes , 10 centimes 20 centimes , 1 ⁄ 2 franc , 1 franc , 2 francs , and 5 francs . The 1 centime and 2 centime coins were struck in bronze;

Seelisberg Tunnel - Misplaced Pages Continue

2208-543: The Gotthard Pass, an important trade route since the 13th century. The pass road culminates about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above the tunnel, at a height of 2,106 metres (6,909 ft), and is only passable in summer. In response to the automobile boom in Switzerland and other things, the Swiss government gave approval in July 1969 for the construction of the 17-kilometre (11 mi) Gotthard Road tunnel. The tunnel would be longer than any existing road tunnel, and would provide

2277-541: The Seelisberg tunnel is very low. Most fatal accidents happened during bidirectional traffic, when the other tube was closed. This article about a Swiss building or structure is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Gotthard Road Tunnel The Gotthard Road Tunnel in Switzerland runs from Göschenen in the canton of Uri at its northern portal, to Airolo in Ticino to

2346-401: The Swiss National Bank decided to develop new security features and to abandon the concept of a reserve series, the details of the seventh series were released and the printed notes were destroyed. The eighth series of banknotes was designed by Jörg Zintzmeyer  [ de ] around the theme of the arts and released starting in 1995. In addition to its new vertical design, this series

2415-406: The Swiss National Bank to boost the franc's liquidity to try to counter its "massive overvaluation ". The Economist argued that its Big Mac Index in July 2011 indicated an overvaluation of 98% over the dollar, and cited Swiss companies releasing profit warnings and threatening to move operations out of the country due to the strength of the franc. Demand for francs and franc-denominated assets

2484-409: The Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, Appenzell, Schaffhausen and Thurgau. The French écu was valued at 2.8 gulden, while the kronenthaler was valued at 2.7 gulden. See St. Gallen thaler . The cantons of Zurich, Schwyz and Glarus, however, maintained a stronger gulden worth 1 ⁄ 22 a Cologne mark of fine silver. The French écu was valued at 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 gulden, while the kronenthaler

2553-726: The abbreviation "Fr." for franc, and the Latin phrases Helvetia or Confœderatio Helvetica (depending on the denomination) or the inscription Libertas (Roman goddess of liberty) on the small coins. The name of the artist is present on the coins with the standing Helvetia and the herder. In addition to these general-circulation coins, numerous series of commemorative coins have been issued, as well as silver and gold coins. These coins are no longer legal tender, but can in theory be exchanged at face value at post offices, and at national and cantonal banks, although their metal or collectors' value equals or exceeds their face value. In 1907,

2622-433: The actual face value of the coin for many years. The coin fell into disuse in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but was only officially fully withdrawn from circulation and declared to be no longer legal tender on 1 January 2007. The long-forgotten 2 centime coin, not minted since 1974, was demonetized on 1 January 1978. The designs of the coins have changed very little since 1879. Among the notable changes were new designs for

2691-433: The catastrophic fire in the road tunnel in 2001, car shuttle trains resumed operations for a few weeks. The tunnel was opened on 5 September 1980. It remains a single bore tunnel with just one lane operating in each direction. It has four large ventilation shafts and an additional side gallery between 10 and 18 metres (33 and 59 ft) from the main tunnel, having its own independent ventilation system in order to facilitate

2760-462: The close of trading that day, the franc was up 23% against the euro and 21% against the US dollar. The full daily appreciation of the franc was equivalent to $ 31,000 per single futures contract: more than the market had moved collectively in the previous thousand days. The key CHF interest rate was also lowered from −0.25% to −0.75%, meaning depositors would be paying an increased fee to keep their funds in

2829-410: The cutting of a second tunnel, should future traffic levels require it. On 11 September 2023, the tunnel was temporarily closed after a crack was discovered on the ceiling. The tunnel reopened on 14 September. On 24 October 2001, a collision of two trucks created a fire in the tunnel, killing eleven and injuring many more, the smoke and gases from the fires being the main cause of death. The tunnel

Seelisberg Tunnel - Misplaced Pages Continue

2898-501: The end of the 18th century is shown below, including their equivalents in terms of the French écu of 26.67 g fine silver, the South German kronenthaler of 25.71 g fine silver, and Swiss francs of 4.5 g fine silver. The livre of Bern and most western Swiss cantons like Basel, Aargau, Fribourg, Vaud, Valais, Lausanne, Neuchâtel and Solothurn originated from the French livre tournois . Geneva had its own currency,

2967-468: The federal law collection the internationally official abbreviation – besides the national languages – however is CHF , also in English; respective guides also request to use the ISO ;4217 code. The use of SFr. for Swiss Franc and fr.sv. are outdated. As previously indicated Latinate "CH" stands for Confoederatio Helvetica ; given the different languages used in Switzerland , Latin

3036-406: The following weeks, in a move dubbed Francogeddon for its effect on markets, the Swiss National Bank abandoned the ceiling on 15 January 2015, and the franc promptly increased in value compared with the euro by 30%, although this only lasted a few minutes before part of the increase was reversed. The move was not announced in advance and resulted in "turmoil" in stock and currency markets. By

3105-409: The franc as the monetary unit of Switzerland. The Swiss franc was introduced at par with the French franc , at 4.5 g fine silver or 9 ⁄ 31 g = 0.29032 g fine gold (ratio 15.5). The currencies of the Swiss cantons were converted to Swiss francs by first restating their equivalents in German kronenthaler ( écu brabant ) of 25 + 5 ⁄ 7 grams fine silver, and then to Swiss francs at

3174-407: The franc fell against the euro from 1.11 to 1.20 CHF, against the U.S. dollar from 0.787 to 0.856 CHF, and against all 16 of the most active currencies on the same day. It was the largest plunge of the franc ever against the euro. The intervention stunned currency traders, since the franc had long been regarded as a safe haven. The SNB had previously set an exchange rate target in 1978 against

3243-544: The monetary union faded away in the 1920s and officially ended in 1927, the Swiss franc remained on that standard until 27 September 1936, when it suffered its sole devaluation during the Great Depression . Following the devaluations of the British pound , U.S. dollar and French franc , the Swiss franc was devalued 30% to 0.20322 grams fine gold, equivalent to US$ 1 = CHF 4.37295. In 1945, Switzerland joined

3312-479: The national bank ceased issuing 5-franc notes but introduced 10-franc notes in 1955. In 1996, 200-franc notes were introduced whilst the 500-franc note was discontinued. Nine series of banknotes have been printed by the Swiss National Bank, seven of which have been released for use by the general public, the fourth and seventh being reserved and never issued. The sixth series from 1976, designed by Ernst and Ursula Hiestand  [ de ] , depicted persons from

3381-406: The necessary reconstruction of the first road tunnel. Once the works on the first tunnel are finished, the Swiss government plans to operate one single lane in each tunnel (northbound traffic in the newly constructed tunnel, southbound traffic in the renovated one) in order to maintain the current tunnel overall capacity, in compliance with the Swiss constitutional norm that forbids a further growth of

3450-444: The new tunnel upon completion of the improvement project in 2032. The 15,003 m (49,222 ft) Gotthard Rail Tunnel , close to but separate from the expressway tunnel, handles rail traffic on the north-south line in Switzerland. It was opened in 1882, at the time the world's longest tunnel, though later superseded by longer tunnels, some over 50 km (31 mi) long. Under construction since 2002 and opened on 1 June 2016,

3519-448: The over 8,000 different coins and notes in circulation. Despite introduction of the first Swiss franc, the South German kronenthaler became the more desirable coin to use in the 19th century, and it was still quoted in pre-1798 currency equivalents. Furthermore, less than 15% of Swiss money in circulation was in local currency, since French and German gold and silver trade coins proved to be more desirable means of exchange. A final problem

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3588-510: The picture. The reverse has the other two languages. When the fifth series lost its validity at the end of April 2000, the banknotes that had not been exchanged represented a total value of 244.3 million Swiss francs; in accordance with Swiss law, this amount was transferred to the Swiss Fund for Emergency Losses in the Case of Non-insurable Natural Disasters. In February 2005, a competition

3657-400: The previous series for which most of the features were kept secret. All banknotes are quadrilingual, displaying all information in the four national languages. With the eighth series, the banknotes depicting a Germanophone person have German and Romansch on the same side as the picture, whereas banknotes depicting a Francophone or an Italophone person have French and Italian on the same side as

3726-495: The rate of 7 écu brabant = 40 Swiss francs. The first franc worth 1 ⁄ 4 th the French écu was converted at 1.4597 Swiss francs. In 1865, France , Belgium , Italy , and Switzerland formed the Latin Monetary Union , in which they agreed to value their national currencies to a standard of 4.5 grams of fine silver or 0.290322 grams fine gold, equivalent to US$ 1 = CHF 5.1826 until 1934. Even after

3795-417: The remaining francs again exceeded their material value. The 1 centime coin was still produced until 2006, albeit in ever decreasing quantities, but its importance declined. Those who could justify the use of 1 centime coins for monetary purposes could obtain them at face value; any other user (such as collectors) had to pay an additional four centimes per coin to cover the production costs, which had exceeded

3864-547: The south, and is 16.9 kilometres (10.5 mi) in length below the St Gotthard Pass , a major pass of the Alps . At time of construction, in 1980, it was the longest road tunnel in the world; it is currently the fifth-longest . Although it is a motorway tunnel, part of the A2 from Basel to Chiasso , it consists of only one bidirectional tube with two lanes. With a maximum elevation of 1,175 metres (3,855 ft) at

3933-402: The traffic capacity across the Alps. The reconstruction would have lasted for several years in any variant – one variant would push the traffic over the mountain pass, another proposed to load the vehicles onto trains with a new terminal, a third would close the tunnel for several months every year over time range of a decade. All of these have their drawbacks and the usage of the second tunnel

4002-646: The tunnel ends at the southern portal near Airolo (1,146 m (3,760 ft)). The journey takes about 13 minutes by car, the maximum speed being 80 km/h (50 mph). The Gotthard Road Tunnel is one of the three tunnels that connect the Swiss Plateau to southern Switzerland and run under the Gotthard Massif , the two other being railway tunnels, the Gotthard Tunnel (1882) and the Gotthard Base Tunnel (2016). All three tunnels bypass

4071-513: The tunnel's highest point, the A2 motorway has the lowest maximum elevation of any direct north-south road through the Alps. The tunnel rises from the northern portal at Göschenen (1,080 m (3,540 ft)) and the culminating point is reached after approximately 8 kilometres (5.0 mi). After 10.3 kilometres (6.4 mi) from the northern portal there is the border between the cantons of Uri and Ticino; after another 6.7 kilometres (4.2 mi),

4140-733: The world of science . This series was recalled on 1 May 2000 and is no longer legal tender, but notes can still be exchanged for valid ones of the same face value at any National Bank branch or authorized agent, or mailed in by post to the National Bank in exchange for a bank account deposit. The exchange program originally was due to end on 30 April 2020, after which sixth-series notes would lose all value. As of 2016, 1.1 billion francs' worth of sixth-series notes had not yet been exchanged, even though they had not been legal tender for 16 years and only 4 more years remained to exchange them. To avoid having to expire such large amounts of money in 2020,

4209-480: Was announced for the design of the ninth series, then planned to be released around 2010 on the theme "Switzerland open to the world". The results were announced in November 2005. The National Bank selected the designs of Swiss graphic designer Manuela Pfrunder as the basis of the new series. The first denomination to be issued was the 50-franc note on 12 April 2016. It was followed by the 20-franc note (17 May 2017),

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4278-568: Was chosen as the best option to allow for the reconstruction. Further usage of both tunnels was subject to a popular referendum that was held in February 2016 , where it was approved. The actual upgrade mining of the second road tunnel was planned to last from 2020 to 2027 at a cost of 2.7 billion francs for the whole project including the following reconstruction of the first tunnel. Work on an access tunnel started in September 2021, and

4347-495: Was closed for two months after the accident for repair and cleaning, reopening 21 December 2001. Since the fire, no more than 150 trucks per hour are allowed to enter the tunnel. In March 2014, the Swiss Government approved a bill to allow the building of a second road tunnel. Construction was scheduled to start in 2020, with the cost estimated at almost CHF 3 billion . Construction on a second, parallel road tunnel

4416-419: Was different from the previous one on several counts. Probably the most important difference from a practical point of view was that the seldom-used 500-franc note was replaced by a new 200-franc note; this new note has indeed proved more successful than the old 500-franc note. The base colours of the new notes were kept similar to the old ones, except that the 20-franc note was changed from blue to red to prevent

4485-503: Was initially blocked by the Swiss Parliament. A February 1994 Alpine Initiative passed (with 52% of the vote), and Parliament upheld the referendum twice through the 1990s. The pro-tunnel Avanti Initiative brought a referendum to voters in February 2004, which was rejected (by 62.8%). The Swiss government announced in September 2013 it had approved a plan to upgrade the second tunnel into a full road tunnel in order to allow for

4554-464: Was so strong that nominal short-term Swiss interest rates became negative. On 6 September 2011, the day after the franc traded at 1.11 CHF/ € and appeared headed to parity with the euro , the SNB set a minimum exchange rate of 1.20 CHF to the euro ('capping' the franc's appreciation), saying "the value of the franc is a threat to the economy", and that it was "prepared to buy foreign currency in unlimited quantities". In response to this announcement

4623-472: Was started. In first instance it was only built for safety: an escape route in case of accidents. This second tunnel is now to be built out to a full road tunnel, potentially allowing four lanes of traffic. Efforts to do this initially failed, blocked by political resistance. The Alpine Initiative "for the protection of the Alpine region from transit traffic", which raised barriers against road tunnel construction,

4692-487: Was that the first Swiss franc was based on the French écu which was being phased out by France in the 19th century. To solve this problem, the new Swiss Federal Constitution of 1848 specified that the federal government would be the only entity allowed to issue money in Switzerland. This was followed two years later by the first Federal Coinage Act, passed by the Federal Assembly on 7 May 1850, which introduced

4761-467: Was valued at 2 + 18 ⁄ 40 gulden; see Zürich thaler and Schwyz gulden . On the other hand, the central Swiss cantons of Luzern, Uri, Zug and Unterwalden maintained a weaker gulden vs the South German gulden . The French écu was valued at 3 gulden, while the kronenthaler was valued at 2 + 37 ⁄ 40 gulden (see Luzern gulden ). In 1798, the Helvetic Republic introduced

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