Dimitri BurkhardSwitzerland may be just slightly bigger than the state of Maryland, but it is an entire country with four national languages, 48 peaks above 12'000 ft and no less than seven world records worth mentioning!
Those are sweet, sweet bragging rights... Here are some of the craziest Swiss world records you should know about:
The smallest whisky bar on earth is located in Müstair, Switzerland.
The Smallest Whisky Bar on Earth is located in Müstair in eastern Switzerland. At just 8.53 sq m/91.8 sq ft in size, it features 280 kinds of Whiskey from all over the world.
Recently, the owner barely beat a British town which tried to claim the title for the Guinness Book of World Records. But since their phone booth did not have a liquor license or regular opening times, the Guinness World Record title for "World's Smallest Whisky Bar" remained in Switzerland!
(Photograph copyright Smallest Whisky Bar)
The largest wine bottle in the world was once filled with wine - but not for long.
They figured "When we do it, we do it right!" So in 2011, the Swiss town of Watt exceeded the then-current world record for the largest wine bottle by much: Their version was 3.8 m/12.5 ft tall (which was 1.2 m taller!)
Not coincidentally, the largest wine bottle contained 2011 liters of wine and a cork the size of a pillow! Apparently, the wine was shared with the townspeople at their annual festival, but there is no record for this - and nobody quite remembers the day, either.
(Photograph copyright offroads.ch)
The highest tightrope walk ever was accomplished by a Swiss.
Without a harness or safety net, Swiss daredevil Freddy Nock has conquered a tightrope of 347 meters in length. This alone would seem like a record, but the fact that this tightrope was located between two mountain peaks in the Swiss Alps really made the stunt epic.
The only way to get to the top at 3532 meters above sea was by helicopter. Once up there, Nock hit the tightrope and had to progressively climb 50 meters in altitude before reaching the other peak. By accomplishing this feat, Freddy Nock broke the previous world record which had been in effect for 30 years. This Nock guy sure has a "knack" for high wires!
Another Swiss world record from the "highest" category: The highest blob jump by a person - ever.
It takes some guts to be launched 17 m/55.8 ft into the air, then drop like a bag of potatoes and land in a lake. This is what the folks from Paintballfarm have achieved in Cham in June 2011, granting them the world record for highest blob jump!
Lake Zug was the stage, and one giant "blob" cushion the launcher. Once three people jumped onto one end of the inflated blob, another person was subsequently catapulted into the air. Would you have done this? Didn't think so.
(Photograph copyright World Record Academy)
The fastest team flight around the world was done by the Swiss.
In 2010, a Swiss aviator and his young crew of two completed the required 36'770 km minimum distance around the world in just 57 hours 54 minutes. Their choice of transportation was a 1980 Rockwell Sabreliner 65, a type of business jet, and they flew over 33 countries.
It makes me crinch just thinking about sitting in an airplane for 10 hours, but at least I get to watch movies! Which, in turn, puts this world record into real perspective.
(Photograph copyright World Record Academy)
Chaplin's World in Vevey once invited 662 Charlie Chaplin lookalikes!
As a way of celebrating their first anniversary in 2017, the Chaplin's World museum gave out exclusive passes to those who would dress up as the famous actor. Namely, the "Tramp" style includes baggy pants, a "melon" hat and a walking stick.
No less than 662 Charlie Chaplin lookalikes of all shapes, sizes and age groups showed up! The result is an epic group picture as well as a world record for the most Charlie Chaplin lookalikes in one location.
(Photograph copyright Chaplin's World)
The world's most expensive speeding ticket was issued in Switzerland (go figure!)
Presumably not listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, but remarkable nonetheless, the most expensive speeding ticket ever was issued in Switzerland. The German Autobahn is notorious for not having a speed limit, but driving with 290 km/h just across the border in Switzerland had a high price for a Swedish offender: 1'000'000 Swiss francs! (In Switzerland, speeding fines are based on the income of the driver.)
The 37 year old driver of a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG exceeded the speeding limit of 120 km/h more than twofold, handing him the highest fine ever issued in the world. His excuse? The speedometer was not functioning properly...
(Photograph copyright Kapo Freiburg)
And the most Alphorns ever played at once? The Swiss did it in Milano.
The Swiss Yodel Association pulled off this stunt on the square in front of the Duomo in Milan in 2015. There, no less than 425 alphorn players performed the famous Rossini overture from Wilhelm Tell.
But a parallel record was less noticed: The alphorn players were transported from their homes in Switzerland to Milan, then back the same day! Given the massive storage needed for 420 alphorns, they chose the Swiss Railways as a mode of transportation.
