Andrej Abplanalp on Wordpress
Andrej Abplanalp
Historian and communications chief of the Swiss National Museum.

24. June 2020

Modern Age | Politics | Society | Economy | Article | Featured

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The ‘emigration’ savings model

In the 19th century some Swiss villages provided sponsorship to enable poorer members of their community to emigrate, to stave off financial ruin for the village. An example from the Canton of Aargau shows that this emigration wasn’t always entirely voluntary.

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10. June 2020

Modern Age | Education | Society | Article | Featured

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Men should fight their natural urges

Onanism makes you infertile and sick. This idea expounded by a doctor from Lausanne spread rapidly in the 18th century, and persisted well into the 20th century.

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10. April 2020

Nature | Tourism | 20th / 21st century | Culture | Article | Featured

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A queen among the Green

40 years ago, the second Swiss Horticultural & Gardening Expo, ‘Grün 80’, attracted millions of Swiss people, and one queen: Queen Elizabeth II.

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25. March 2020

Women in history | Middle Ages | Politics | Religion | Article | Featured

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Nuns – Powerful women in the Middle Ages

Medieval nuns – the phrase brings to mind a group of women living in seclusion behind convent walls, devoting themselves to their faith. But a look at history gives a very different picture.

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20. March 2020

Middle Ages | Education | Economy | Article | Featured

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How the number 7 came to Europe

For a long time, we were very reluctant in our part of the world to accept the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. Even the mathematician Fibonacci had trouble convincing people to change their attitude. But the economic benefits were so great that all resistance was abandoned.

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