James Blake Wiener15.10.2026Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497–1543) came of age in an era reshaped by print culture, humanism, and religious turmoil. After settling in Basel, he created works for the city’s Renaissance elites. His years in Switzerland laid the foundation for the international acclaim he later achieved in Tudor England.
Jelica Popović06.10.2026The Swiss public seem to have forgotten the war that broke out in Yugoslavia in 1991. Nonetheless, it did (and still does) affect people living in Switzerland who came from the war zone. They were stigmatised during and after the war, while the influx of people from ex-Yugoslavia has left a mark on Swiss culture and everyday life.
Barbara Basting10.09.2026The Great St Bernard Pass has always been known as a major alpine crossing point. Napoleon Bonaparte made skilful use of it for propaganda purposes.
Jose Cáceres18.08.2026In 1939 Hans Erni painted the mural "Die Schweiz, das Ferienland der Völker", which was designed to showcase Switzerland to the world. A year later – during the Second World War – he helped conceal alpine military installations from the enemy. Two commissions, one artistic eye.
Nicole Billeter23.07.2026Melancholy was everywhere in the early modern period: in letters, reports and biographies, but also in medical tracts and theological discourse. A diagnosis is speculative, but in some of the descriptions we can recognise what today is referred to as depression.
Barbara Basting19.03.2026Johann Jacob Diesbach was trying to develop a red lacquer. However, to his surprise, he came up with a vibrant blue. This is the story of a Berlin-based Swiss inventor.
Sophie Dänzer22.01.2026‘Outsider art’ is now an established term in the field of art history. In the early 20th century, works by people who stood outside established social and artistic conventions began to gain recognition. A patron of this art was Bernese psychiatrist Walter Morgenthaler.
Barbara Basting06.01.2026The mountain peaks and cliff tops of Saxony reminded Swiss artist Adrian Zingg of his homeland. He captured them in his drawings, thus helping them on their way to fame, and coined the name by which the region is still known today: Saxon Switzerland.
