Switzerland: Church Chronology

1848 • SwitzerlandSwitzerland’s new constitution guaranteed freedom of religion for all Christian denominations. In 1866 religious freedom was granted to all.

November 24, 1850 • Monte Castelluzzo, Torre Pellice, ItalyElder Lorenzo Snow of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who had been called to open a mission in Italy and the surrounding countries, assigned Thomas B. H. Stenhouse to preach the gospel in Switzerland.

December 1850 • Geneva, SwitzerlandT. B. H. Stenhouse began preaching the gospel in Geneva.

February 1851 • GenevaLorenzo Snow visited Switzerland and dedicated the land for the preaching of the gospel.

March 1851 • GenevaThe first converts in Switzerland were baptized.

1852 • Paris, France; Hamburg, Germany; London, EnglandThe Book of Mormon was published in French, German, and Italian.

January 1853 • Lausanne, SwitzerlandLe Reflecteur, a monthly Church periodical for French-speaking members, was first published.

March 26, 1853 • Basel, SwitzerlandGeorge Mayer, the first German-speaking missionary in Switzerland, arrived in Basel.

May 31, 1853 • Birsfelden, SwitzerlandM. V. Emley Shaffrath; her husband, F. A. W. Shaffrath; and their daughter, S. Emley, became the first German-speaking converts to be baptized in Switzerland.

December 25–26, 1853 • GenevaMembers from branches in the cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel, and Basel attended the first conference of the Church in Switzerland.

1854 • SwitzerlandThe first Swiss Saints immigrated to the United States.

1860 • SwitzerlandTen years after the first missionaries arrived, hundreds of converts had been baptized in Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchâtel, Basel, Zürich, Landschlacht, Toggenburg, Thun, Herisau, and Saint-Imier. Many early converts ultimately gathered to Utah.

1864 • SwitzerlandThe Swiss government granted The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints official recognition as a Christian sect, entitling the Church to the protection of the Swiss Federal Council.

January 1, 1869 • Zürich, SwitzerlandDer Stern, a monthly Church periodical for German-speaking members, began publication. This was the third and longest-lasting German-language periodical of the Swiss Mission.

April 1876 • Bern, SwitzerlandThe Doctrine and Covenants was published in German.

1882 • BernThe Pearl of Great Price was published in German.

June 30, 1882 • BernThe first Relief Society in Switzerland was established in the Bern Branch, with Rosina Stiener as president.

June 1886 • BernNegative reports about treatment of Swiss Saints in Utah prompted authorities in Bern to issue a public warning against missionaries.

1900 • SwitzerlandThere were over 1,000 members living in Switzerland, and more than 2,000 Swiss Saints had immigrated to the United States.

August 19, 1906 • BernPresident Joseph F. Smith became the first President of the Church to visit Switzerland. He stated that there would someday be a temple in countries outside of the United States, a prophecy that was fulfilled almost 50 years later, when the Bern Switzerland Temple was dedicated.

August 30, 1914 • BaselAfter the start of World War I, Hyrum W. Valentine, president of the Swiss and German Mission, was instructed to release all missionaries.

January 1919 • SwitzerlandMirjam H. Cannon, president of the Swiss-German Mission Relief Society, started a project to recycle discarded clothing and scraps of cloth into wearable clothing as part of the post-war relief effort.

1922 • BaselA preliminary French translation of the Pearl of Great Price was distributed among Swiss members. The official edition of the Pearl of Great Price in French was published in 1958.

July 12–22, 1934 • SwitzerlandLouise Y. Robinson, Relief Society General President, visited Switzerland, where she met Relief Society members in Zürich, Interlaken, Bern, and Basel.

1939–46 • SwitzerlandDuring World War II, American missionaries were evacuated from Europe, and Swiss members filled leadership positions in Switzerland. Max Zimmer was called to lead German-speaking Saints, and Robert Simond was called to lead French-speaking Saints.

May 12, 1940 • BaselThe Saints in Basel began meeting in the first Church-owned meetinghouse in Switzerland.

Fall 1942 • ZürichA Relief Society conference of the Zürich District was held under the direction of Anna Stoecklin, acting Relief Society president in the Swiss Mission.

Spring 1946 • SwitzerlandAs president of the European Mission, Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited Switzerland and oversaw food and clothing distribution there to Church members all over Europe.

1951–65 • SwitzerlandThe Swiss Mission translated and published new editions of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price in Italian.

September 11, 1955 • Zollikofen, Switzerland

Church President David O. McKay dedicated the Bern Switzerland Temple, the first temple in Europe.

October 27, 1961 • ZürichThe Zürich Switzerland Stake, the first stake in Switzerland, was organized, with Wilhelm F. Lauener as president.

January 6, 1962 • ZürichCarl Ringger was set apart as the first stake patriarch in Switzerland and in Europe. He provided patriarchal blessings for European Latter-day Saints.

June 1963 • Lugano, SwitzerlandMissionaries preached the gospel in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland for the first time. The following year, the Swiss Mission also began preaching in cities throughout Italy.

1979 • SwitzerlandChurch membership in Switzerland exceeded 5,000.

June 20, 1982 • GenevaThe Geneva Switzerland Stake, the first French-speaking stake in Switzerland, was organized, with Denis Bonny as president.

April 6, 1985 • Salt Lake City, Utah

Elder Hans B. Ringger became the first Swiss General Authority when he was called to serve in the First Quorum of the Seventy.

October 23, 1992 • ZollikofenAfter extensive remodeling, the Bern Switzerland Temple was rededicated by Gordon B. Hinckley.

August 1994 • SwitzerlandAn estimated 7,000 Saints, making up three stakes and two missions, resided in the country.

February 2001 • Schaffhausen, SwitzerlandMembers of the Schaffhausen branch worked with the local community to provide gifts and hygiene items for a Romanian orphanage.

July 4, 2003 • ZürichApproximately 7,400 members from three Swiss stakes celebrated 150 years of the Church in Switzerland.

December 2010 • SwitzerlandThe government of Switzerland announced that by 2012 they would stop offering visas to missionaries from outside of the European Union.

April 29, 2019 • GenevaSharon Eubank, president of Latter-day Saint Charities, delivered a keynote address on the protection of refugees and religious minorities at the Second Global Summit on Religion, Peace, and Security, held at the United Nations in Geneva.