Katrin Brunner14.03.2024Gripped by religious hysteria, a group of believers killed two women in Wildensbuch in 1823. The blood-soaked deed still has the power to shock today.
Joël László08.03.2024Members of the Anabaptist movement in and around Zurich were persecuted and executed for their convictions during the Reformation. They continue to be disparaged and stereotyped to this day. But a look at the historical sources reveals a different picture ‒ that of a defiant movement in which women also played a key role.
James Blake Wiener06.02.2024It’s often forgotten that Locarno was a hotspot of confessional strife. The Locarnese Protestants and their subsequent expulsion in 1555 precipitated significant comment and a high degree of interconfessional distrust among the Swiss Confederates.
Alexander Rechsteiner18.12.2023The Three Kings have inspired countless customs and traditions, and no nativity scene would be complete without them. A look at the newborn baby Jesus’ three wondrous visitors and their backstory.
Reto Bleuer25.10.2023Religion and the church used to be prominent in people’s lives. Church attendance was nigh on obligatory. For rural folk, the ‘Predigtgang’ (the journey to church) often involved a long walk, as was the case for the inhabitants of Buchholterberg.
Felix Graf16.10.2023Zurich watchmaker Rudolf Stadler came to a bloody end on 16 October 1637. At the age of 32, the first Court watchmaker to the Shah of Persia in Isfahan was executed by sword. His story sounds like a tale from One Thousand and One Nights.
Chris Findlay22.08.2023The Schaffhausen Municipal Library is home to a manuscript of great significance: The Hiberno-Scottish saint’s life of Columba of Iona provides insight into a period of history about which little is known. It also contains the oldest account of a monster in Loch Ness.
Kurt Messmer18.07.2023Here is a simple test. The pilgrimage church of Hergiswald at the foot of Mount Pilatus contains a visually stunning depiction of biblical scenes from the baroque period, circa 1650. What response does this cultural-historical cosmos elicit from you?