Clinical autopsy in Switzerland - a status report The clinical autopsy is an important diagnostic instrument for quality assurance, for education and for the development of medicine in general. In recent decades, however, the number of clinical autopsies required by the clinicians and performed by pathologists has declined dramatically in many countries, including Switzerland. On the other hand, there are numerous efforts, especially from the field of pathology, in part in collaboration with clinical colleagues, aimed at improving the perception of autopsy in the clinic and the public in order to fulfill the duty of providing high quality and modern postmortem diagnostics. These activities include e. g. restructuring, communication concepts, intensified dialogue, as well as technical innovations. However, issues such as ethical, social and financial aspects are difficult and unclear. In this review, some of the activities to improve the state of autopsy in Switzerland are presented, but also relevant issues of the legal and economic framework are discussed.