How Switzerland transformed breakfast

When we think of Switzerland, we often think of muesli. But just how did its pioneering inventor Dr Bircher-Benner capture the culinary zeitgeist of the early 20th Century?

One early July morning, in a high Alpine valley above rolling pastures, a group of hikers gathered for breakfast at the historical Schatzalp Hotel in Davos, Switzerland’s easternmost resort. The sky was pallid grey, as were the clouds on the horizon, but the colour on the breakfast-goers cheeks was a healthy rose-pink.

One by one, they filled their dishes from the buffet, smiling contentedly as they took their time heaping spoonfuls of grated apple, cinnamon, rolled oats, seeds, nuts and dollops of yoghurt into the bowls. Eating it was proper work, but later, half a dozen of them went back for seconds. And so did I.

On the face of it, the scene doesn’t look like much, but this perfect marriage of morning custom and cereal is the very reason Switzerland changed the way the world eats breakfast. Bircher muesli – a hosanna to healthy living – is the invention that gave Switzerland its mojo. And still today its influence can’t be underestimated.

Bircher muesli is the invention that gave Switzerland its mojo

To learn more, I contacted Dr Eberhard Wolff from the Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies at the University of Zurich. “First of all, muesli was not a breakfast idea,” said Wolff, who co-curated an exhibition at the Swiss National Museum on the country’s golden age as a health paradise. “Bircher muesli was intended as a starter to every meal, like bread and butter is today. Then, for a long time it became a Schweizer Znacht, a Swiss supper at night. But breakfast? Never.”

Tell plenty of Swiss this today and they’ll counter with a quizzical look. Many have only the vaguest knowledge of muesli’s roots. The older generation may picture its inventor, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, as a charismatic Doctor Doolittle-like character strolling the forests above Lake Zurich. But the younger generation are unlikely to know more.

Which is to say the backstory needs some unpacking. It begins around 1900 with the Swiss physician’s crusade to combat the ill effects of tuberculosis through improved diet. Far from being a nutritionist, Bircher-Benner first conceived the idea while studying medicine at the University of Zurich, experimenting with the effects raw food had on the body, and later using himself as a lab rat after falling ill with jaundice. The conclusion? His recovery was proof-of-concept for the health benefits of raw apple, nuts and oats mixed with water, lemon juice and condensed milk. A bowl of this Apfeldiätspeise (literally ‘Apple Diet Meal’, as Bircher museli was then known) will stay with you for the day, he reasoned, and probably for the rest of your life, too. Around this time, everyone from a fledgling Nestlé in the Swiss town of Vevey to English tour operator Thomas Cook began propagating the idea of Switzerland as a paragon of healthy living. And no one cast this spell better than Swiss author Johanna Spyri. When her character Heidi falls ill, the mountains and alpine herbs are the only possible cure for her homesickness. And when Clara Sesemann, her wheelchair-bound friend, follows Heidi back to the mountains, she is able to walk again.

But Bircher-Benner’s research wasn’t so far-fetched. It became such a game changer that by 1904 he opened Lebendige Kraft, a chalet-style health sanatorium in the foothills of the Zürichberg, the city’s east-facing mountain. Switzerland’s reputation was such that thousands had begun to flock to health clinics in the Alps for the tangible healing properties of the sun, air and diet – but Bircher-Benner was also a shrewd businessman. Instead of opening on a sun-drenched Alpine ridge, he opened his sanatorium close to Zurich’s five-star Dolder Grand Hotel to lure in its affluent guests.  

“In my eyes, his success was due to the easy rules he preached – raw food, early rise, early to bed, the virtues of fresh mountain air,” Wolff said. “But there was also a growing demand for ascetic self-control in the middle classes and the well-to-do at that time. And that’s why many flocked to the Zauber Berge, or the ‘Magic Mountain’ as it became known.”

Further fuelling excitement over such sanatoria was the rise of lebensreform. A social movement born in Germany, it advocated a pre-Summer of Love utopia of freedom, hippy ideals and vegetarianism. Yet not everyone was impressed. The writer Thomas Mann, who stayed in Bircher-Benner’s clinic for four weeks, later penning The Magic Mountain while recuperating in Davos, went so far as to call the sanatorium a hygienic prison.

Bircher-Benner's success was due to the easy rules he preached – raw food, early rise, early to bed, the virtues of fresh mountain air  Seen from the Zürichberg today, there is little of the original clinic left. Walk down Keltenstrasse and you’ll come to a training and conference centre for Zurich Financial Services, once part of the sanatorium. By turning on to Köllikerstrasse, you’ll pass three chalet-style houses that once housed paying guests.    – BBC

How Switzerland transformed breakfast

When we think of Switzerland, we often think of muesli. But just how did its pioneering inventor Dr Bircher-Benner capture the culinary zeitgeist of the early 20th Century? One early July morning, in a high Alpine valley above rolling pastures, a group of hikers gathered for breakfast at the historical Schatzalp Hotel in Davos, Switzerlands easternmost resort. The sky was pallid grey, as were the clouds on the horizon, but the colour on the breakfast-goers cheeks was a healthy rose-pink. One by one, they filled their dishes from the buffet, smiling contentedly as they took their time heaping spoonfuls of grated apple, cinnamon, rolled oats, seeds, nuts and dollops of yoghurt into the bowls. Eating it was proper work, but later, half a dozen of them went back for seconds. And so did I. On the face of it, the scene doesnt look like much, but this perfect marriage of morning custom and cereal is the very reason Switzerland changed the way the world eats breakfast. Bircher muesli a hosanna to healthy living is the invention that gave Switzerland its mojo. And still today its influence cant be underestimated. Bircher muesli is the invention that gave Switzerland its mojo To learn more, I contacted Dr Eberhard Wolff from the Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies at the University of Zurich. First of all, muesli was not a breakfast idea, said Wolff, who co-curated an exhibition at the Swiss National Museum on the countrys golden age as a health paradise. Bircher muesli was intended as a starter to every meal, like bread and butter is today. Then, for a long time it became a Schweizer Znacht, a Swiss supper at night. But breakfast? Never. Tell plenty of Swiss this today and theyll counter with a quizzical look. Many have only the vaguest knowledge of mueslis roots. The older generation may picture its inventor, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, as a charismatic Doctor Doolittle-like character strolling the forests above Lake Zurich. But the younger generation are unlikely to know more. Which is to say the backstory needs some unpacking. It begins around 1900 with the Swiss physicians crusade to combat the ill effects of tuberculosis through improved diet. Far from being a nutritionist, Bircher-Benner first conceived the idea while studying medicine at the University of Zurich, experimenting with the effects raw food had on the body, and later using himself as a lab rat after falling ill with jaundice. The conclusion? His recovery was proof-of-concept for the health benefits of raw apple, nuts and oats mixed with water, lemon juice and condensed milk. A bowl of this Apfelditspeise (literally Apple Diet Meal, as Bircher museli was then known) will stay with you for the day, he reasoned, and probably for the rest of your life, too. Around this time, everyone from a fledgling Nestl in the Swiss town of Vevey to English tour operator Thomas Cook began propagating the idea of Switzerland as a paragon of healthy living. And no one cast this spell better than Swiss author Johanna Spyri. When her character Heidi falls ill, the mountains and alpine herbs are the only possible cure for her homesickness. And when Clara Sesemann, her wheelchair-bound friend, follows Heidi back to the mountains, she is able to walk again. But Bircher-Benners research wasnt so far-fetched. It became such a game changer that by 1904 he opened Lebendige Kraft, a chalet-style health sanatorium in the foothills of the Zrichberg, the citys east-facing mountain. Switzerlands reputation was such that thousands had begun to flock to health clinics in the Alps for the tangible healing properties of the sun, air and diet but Bircher-Benner was also a shrewd businessman. Instead of opening on a sun-drenched Alpine ridge, he opened his sanatorium close to Zurichs five-star Dolder Grand Hotel to lure in its affluent guests. In my eyes, his success was due to the easy rules he preached raw food, early rise, early to bed, the virtues of fresh mountain air, Wolff said. But there was also a growing demand for ascetic self-control in the middle classes and the well-to-do at that time. And thats why many flocked to the Zauber Berge, or the Magic Mountain as it became known. Further fuelling excitement over such sanatoria was the rise of lebensreform. A social movement born in Germany, it advocated a pre-Summer of Love utopia of freedom, hippy ideals and vegetarianism. Yet not everyone was impressed. The writer Thomas Mann, who stayed in Bircher-Benners clinic for four weeks, later penning The Magic Mountain while recuperating in Davos, went so far as to call the sanatorium a hygienic prison. Bircher-Benners success was due to the easy rules he preached raw food, early rise, early to bed, the virtues of fresh mountain air Seen from the Zrichberg today, there is little of the original clinic left. Walk down Keltenstrasse and youll come to a training and conference centre for Zurich Financial Services, once part of the sanatorium. By turning on to Kllikerstrasse, youll pass three chalet-style houses that once housed paying guests. BBC