How a 244-year-old Swiss newspaper became a global standard for serious journalism

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Founded in 1780, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung remains one of the world's oldest newspapers. While it resisted modern design trends for decades, its commitment to in-depth, objective reporting has long set the benchmark for German-language media. Today, it balances its storied liberal traditions with a modern, shifting political identity.

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung, or NZZ, began as the Zürcher Zeitung under the guidance of painter and poet Salomon Gessner. Over nearly two and a half centuries, it evolved from a local publication into a Swiss newspaper of record. Its reputation for excellence was built on a foundation of eloquent commentary and rigorous, in-depth subject treatment, which influenced many other prestigious German-language outlets. Even as it modernized, the paper remained remarkably consistent; it did not abandon its traditional blackletter typeface until 1946 and only introduced color photography in 2005.

Politically, the NZZ has historically aligned with the liberal Free Democratic Party of Switzerland, maintaining a centre-right, free-market orientation. However, the last decade has seen significant internal turbulence. In 2014, a proposed appointment of a right-wing editor-in-chief sparked staff protests, though the candidate ultimately withdrew. Subsequent leadership changes in 2015 and 2016, coupled with the departure of nearly half of the contributing editors by late 2017, led critics to argue that the paper has undergone a distinct rightward shift.

Despite these internal debates, the NZZ remains a dominant force in Swiss media. Its influence extends beyond the daily print edition; the weekend paper, NZZ am Sonntag, launched in 2002, has garnered international recognition, including the European Newspaper of the Year award in 2012. The organization has also invested heavily in its legacy, digitizing 225 years of archives—a massive project involving two million images and seventy terabytes of data. This commitment to both its historical archive and its contemporary role ensures the NZZ continues to occupy a central, if contested, position in the European intellectual landscape.

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