James Blake Wiener12.09.2024The Battle of Malplaquet, fought on September 11, 1709 in what is present-day Belgium at the height of the War of the Spanish Succession, was the bloodiest battle of the eighteenth century with over 22,000 dead and wounded. Swiss mercenaries faced each other on the battlefield; 8,000 lost their lives.
Adrian Baschung15.08.2023An argument between two former friends from the patrician class in Solothurn was the undoing of both opponents and plunged a mother into hopeless despair.
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?
Joya Indermühle28.02.2023The forerunners of the first fashion magazines were published in Paris during the reign of Louis XIV. Like their modern counterparts, they pictured seasonal fashion trends, and helped to create the fashion system as we know it today.
Murielle Schlup16.02.2023During the Baroque and Rococo periods no self-respecting man or woman would consider themselves properly dressed without one finishing touch: their wig. Fashionable first at the French court, their popularity then spread all over Europe. Coiffed hairpieces long served as a symbol of social status for both sexes.
Murielle Schlup19.01.2023French king Louis XIV liked to use dance as a way of projecting his absolute power. A year before his glorious coronation, he embodied the rising sun – dressed as the sun god, Apollo – in the centre of the planetary system.
Michèle Seehafer09.01.2023The Baroque period saw increasing numbers of female artists begin to question the social structures of the age. The stories of Anna Waser and Maria Sibylla Merian demonstrate how these female artists fully bore comparison with their male contemporaries.
Julia Burbulla28.12.2022In France the layout of the Baroque garden was subject to strict rules, and its purpose was to illustrate power and wealth. Here in Switzerland, too, members of the aristocracy and the wealthy merchant classes constructed their gardens based on the French model – albeit with good Swiss simplicity.
