1856 in Switzerland

The following is a list of events, births, and deaths in 1856 in Switzerland.

Incumbents

 * Federal Council:
 * Jakob Stämpfli (President)
 * Jonas Furrer
 * Josef Munzinger
 * Constant Fornerod
 * Friedrich Frey-Herosé
 * Wilhelm Matthias Naeff
 * Stefano Franscini

Events

 * November 7 – Eterna is founded
 * Ernest Borel is founded
 * Carl Meissner discovers Conospermum mitchellii
 * A revolt by Neuchâtel royalists sparks the Neuchâtel Crisis.
 * Credit Suisse is founded
 * Gregory Haas and John Frey, two Swiss diocesan priests, arrive on Mt. Calvary after leaving Switzerland and establish a Capuchin Order in the United States
 * The first part of the Olten–Lausanne railway line is opened
 * Samuel Francis is relocated to Geneva to oversee the emigration of Latter-day Saints to the United States from Switzerland
 * Switzerland opens a diplomatic consulate in Melbourne, Australia
 * Arnold Escher von der Linth becomes a professor of geology at the École Polytechnique in Zurich

Births

 * April 7 – Ferdinand Schiess, recipient of the Victoria Cross (d. 1884)
 * May 23 – Hermann Sahli, internist (d. 1933)
 * December 6 – Louise Catherine Breslau, artist (d. 1927)
 * December 9 – Ernst Brenner, politician (d. 1911)
 * December 11 – Paul Sarasin, naturalist (d. 1929)

Deaths

 * William Bally, sculptor (b. c. 1799)