Switzerland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 with two songs: "" written by Georg Betz-Stahl, and "" composed by Géo Voumard, with lyrics by Émile Gardaz. Both songs were performed by Lys Assia. The Swiss participating broadcaster, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), selected its entries through a national final. In addition, (RSI), on behalf of SRG SSR, was the host broadcaster and staged the event at the in Lugano. "" was the first-ever entry from Switzerland performed in the Eurovision Song Contest, and the first-ever entry in German in the contest; while "", that eventually won the contest, was the first-ever winner in its history.
Before Eurovision
For their national selection, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) opened a public submission period between January and 20 February 1956 for interested songwriters to submit their compositions. Only songwriters with Swiss citizenship or having been residing in Switzerland for at least ten years were allowed to participate. A jury assembled in Lugano chose eleven of them for the national final.
The national final called was held at the Radio Lausanne Studio de la Sallaz in Lausanne on 28 April 1956 at 20:45 CET (19:45 UTC). It was broadcast on TSR and SRG as well as on the radio stations Beromünster, Sottens and Monte Ceneri. The studio audience consisted of invited guests and journalists.
Eleven songs were sung by Jo Roland, Anita Traversi and Lys Assia. Four entries had been written by Radio Lausanne's own Émile Gardaz and Géo Voumard. The puppet group Compagnie des marottes and André Robert seem to have also participated in the show.
A professional jury of nine members watched the songs from inside the studio, and then decided the winning songs in a secret vote, with three members each representing each of the languages German, French and Italian. One of the jury members was Father Kaelin.
The winners were the songs "Refrains", composed by Géo Voumard and written by Émile Gardaz, and, "", written and composed by Georg Betz-Stahl. Both songs were performed by Lys Assia.
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align:left"
|+National final – 28 April 1956
!rowspan="2" |
!rowspan="2" | Artist
!rowspan="2" | Song
!rowspan="2" | Language
!colspan="2" | Songwriters
|-
! Composer
! Lyricist
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1
| Jo Roland
| ""
| French
| Géo Voumard
| Émile Gardaz
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2
| Lys Assia
| ""
| German
|
| Fredy Schulz
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:gold;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 3
| Lys Assia
| ""
| German
| colspan=2 | Georg Betz-Stahl
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 4
| Jo Roland
| ""
| French
| Géo Voumard
| Émile Gardaz
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 5
| Anita Traversi
| ""
| Italian
| Guido Zanzi
| Luciano Bonato
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 6
| Jo Roland
| ""
| French
| Géo Voumard
| Émile Gardaz
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 7
| Lys Assia
| ""
| French
| Roger Pittet
|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 8
| Jo Roland
| ""
| French
| René de Pascale
| Gilby Caillet
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 9
| Jo Roland
| ""
| French
| Pierre Gisin
| Jean Destoy
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 10
| Lys Assia
| ""
| German
| colspan=2 | Georg Betz
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:gold;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 11
| Lys Assia
| "Refrains"