If you do not mind 6 hours in the coach ( with stops every 2 hours ), there is a cheap coach fare from 30.03.2012 from the German side ( Frankfurt is one departure point ) to the Swiss side ( Zurich and Chiasso ) for EUR9 ( but not the other way around unfortunately ).
There are some other cheap fares to other countries. I have only used Hamburg, DE to Aalborg, DK and was pretty good.
http://www.touring.de/index.php?id=2&L=1
FAQ:
http://www.touring.de/FAQ.899.0.html?&L=1