Postal codes in Switzerland and Liechtenstein

On 26 June 1964, Swiss Post introduced postal codes as the third country after Germany (1941) and the United States (1963).

In Switzerland, the postal codes have four digits. As with the postcode system introduced in Germany in 1993, a municipality can receive several postcodes. The fact that a locality (settlement) has its own postal code does not mean that it is an independent political municipality, but it is an official locality. In addition, a postcode can include several political communes (e.g.: 3048 Worblaufen, includes parts of the communes of Bern and Ittigen) or several cantons (e.g.: 8866 Ziegelbrücke, includes parts of the cantons of Glarus and St. Gallen), which is why it is not possible to assign it unambiguously in both directions. In addition, it is often not possible to assign a unique postcode to post offices (post boxes) in larger cities. For this reason, six-digit postcodes are used internally.

The Principality of Liechtenstein is also included in the Swiss postal code system, as is the German enclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein, which has its own Swiss postal codes in addition to its national one, D-78266. Before January 2020, the Italian enclave of Campione d'Italia also had a Swiss postcode, CH-6911, but this ceased to be valid, and all mail requires the use of the Italian postcode.[1] This followed the enclave's entry into the European Union's Customs Area.[2] Also in Italy, Swiss Post previously held an office in Domodossola with the code CH-3907.[3] This is now used for the village of Simplon.[4]


Format of postal codes (PLZ/NPA)

The Swiss postal codes are assigned geographically, from west to east. They don't follow political divisions (cantons, districts), but they follow a routing allocation, following railways and PostBus routes. The postal code of big cities finish with 00, and it is not allocated if in the region there isn't a big center.

Switzerland is divided into nine postal districts, numbered from west to east. Each district is subdivided into postal areas. Each area contains a maximum of one hundred units.

The postal codes are made up as follows:

3436 Zollbrück
3 = district (Bern)
34 = area (Burgdorf)
343 = route (Burgdorf - Langnau)
3436 = post office number (Zollbrück)

Today, the third digit has no real meaning anymore. In the past, mail was assigned to fixed railway or truck routes, but modern logistics do not need this practice any more.

Postal codes of Liechtenstein are included in the same structure, using the range from 9480 to 9499.


Summary of postal codes
One-digit postcode areas Switzerland, defining the first digit of each four-digit postcode.
Two-digit postcode areas Switzerland, defining the first two digits of each four-digit postcode.

Cities
  • 1211: Geneva (generic post code for all P.O. Box addresses in Geneva; the address is followed by a number indicating the exact post office in which the box is located, e.g. 1211 Geneva 7: 1 Mont-Blanc, 10 United Nations, 11 Rue du Stand, 12 Champel, 13 Les Charmilles, 14 State Hospital, 16 Grand-Pré, 17 Malagnou, 18 St-Jean, 19 Petit-Saconnex, 2 Cornavin/Swisscom, 20 CIC, 21 Les Pâquis, 22 International Labour Organization, 23 CERN, 24 Les Acacias, 26 La Praille/Military base, 27 World Health Organization, 28 Le Bouchet, 3 Rive, 4 Plainpalais, 5 Main Post Office, 6 Les Eaux-Vives, 7 Servette, 70 CS, 8 Jonction, 84 Voting system, 9 La Cluse)
  • 80xx: The city districts of Zurich were numbered before the Swiss postal codes were introduced; the number of the city district equals the last numbers of the postal code. The administration of the canton of Zurich has the postal code 8090.
  • 3003 is the postal code of the Federal administration which is located in Bern.

Liechtenstein

Notes and references
  1. IT and CH – Customs territory of Campione d'Italia, Asendia, 23 December, 2019
  2. Spedire una lettera a Campione? Attenzione al codice postale, Giorgio Doninelli, tio.ch, 31 December 2019
  3. Helvetia Philatelic Society of Great Britain New Letter, January 1988
  4. Gemeinde Simplon
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See also
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