5,000 years ago, people in Europe began erecting stone stelae in the shape of humans. These monuments were likenesses of ancestors that served to unify and nourish the village community through rituals, and legitimised land ownership.

At the Marian shrine of Oberbüren (Canton of Bern), the medieval Catholic Church offered some very special services: children who were stillborn or had died at birth were briefly brought back to life so that they could be baptised and then properly buried.

Fleeing his conservative family, Friedrich Wilhelm Wagner was searching for freedom. This search led the poet to Zurich and into the circles of Dadaism.

Peter Viktor von Besenval was born 300 years ago. A Swiss baron and a mercenary officer in the service of the French crown, Besenval was a passionate collector of objets d’art and plants, and a notorious ladies’ man.

Stone stelas from Neolithic Europe tell of a new social class: the heavily armed warriors who were supposed to protect the property of the elites.

Painted glass windows have been bringing light and colour into dark church rooms since the 13th century. But how is a glass painting actually made?

This is the story of a political refugee in Switzerland who went on to become Emperor of France. Along the way, Napoleon III left behind traces that still shine brightly today.

Due to the new lockdown of the museums, Hibou Pèlerin has been forced to take a compulsory break. He is using this time to read some new publications on cultural history. A brand new world history of the museum by Krzysztof Pomian has him riveted.