Worked that way as the child spent the most time with him as main caregiver.
Work from that angle.
Tom
I am not a lawyer and I have never been in the same situation and never plan to be. I recommend just getting the best lawyer you can afford and never leaving yourself in such a vulnerable situation ever again.
Same to you, lawyer up asap and learn from this to never give up all of your independence simply for someone else's benefit because that is not a balanced or equal partnership and you put yourself at someone else's mercy should things go badly.
Whether you are the main carer for your child or not, you need to find a way to support yourself financially in the long-term. That means employment. You can find a way, even if it's something very basic, there is plenty of employment here in Switzerland. Your 'integration' into Switzerland will be essential - you are very unlikely to get permission to remove your child to the UK permanently as they have been living in Switzerland....you may also be able to block your ex-wife from taking the child to Germany too - to you are both 'stuck' trying to find financial stability in Switzerland until the child is independent. - around 20 years....
A combination of serious job hunting and intensive language class is an important step. If you have some financial resources, pay someone for professional career advice in your field - I assume you have some interest/expertise/work history you can fall back on.... put out to your networks, tell people you are looking for 'any job' right now....
And then be prepared to step forward into the unknown.... and build your support team around you who are 'for you'....
While I understand the point you are making, the way you have made it sounds a tad judgemental....we have no idea of the OPs circumstances....some kindness could be quite helpful when framing advise.
OP, ignore the tone but the points are worth considering especially if things do come to pass as you fear.....