The Schweizer breed was created in 1905 by Alfred Weiss in Amriswil, in the canton of Thurgau, in north-east Switzerland.

[2] The breed had a period of success between the First and Second World Wars, but after the war the industrialisation of agriculture and the advent of imported hybrid layer breeds led to rapid decline in its numbers.

[2] In 1991, when no more than about fifty of the birds remained, a conservation programme for the breed was launched by ProSpecieRara;[6] a flock-book was established in 1993.

[1]: 113  It was added to the Swiss Ark of Taste of the Slow Food Foundation in 2009.

[7] The comb is relatively resistant to frost damage, so the birds are well adapted to Swiss weather conditions.