A brief history of acoustics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich and at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) in Dübendorf is presented, focusing on the period between 1920-1970. A first acoustics laboratory was set up by lecturer Franz Max Osswald at the ETH in the 1920s. The work was continued by Prof. Willi Furrer who, together with Prof. Anselm Lauber, wrote a standard work on acoustics. Both authors were associate professors at ETH. However, it was never possible to establish a dedicated chair or institute for acoustics despite the status of the prestigious technical university. Early on, at a meeting in September 1944, the ETH management stated that no separate chair should be established for acoustics because it "eludes scientific research, since it deals mainly with questions of practical application and empiricism". Since then, lectures on acoustics have been held regularly at various faculties of ETH and some research projects have been carried out with remarkable results. However, in 1962 a laboratory for acoustics and noise control was founded at Empa, which is part of the ETH Domain, and is today a recognised laboratory with considerable scientific output.