Politics Archive – Swiss National Museum

20. May 2020

Switzerland – a land of borders

Since ancient times, people’s everyday lives have been shaped by intangible dividing lines. Consciously or unconsciously, these boundaries are constantly being crossed.

13. May 2020

20th / 21st century | War/battle

de en fr

Mass exodus from Basel

by Gabriel Heim

In May 1940, a Wehrmacht attack was imminent. At least the inhabitants of Basel thought so, and many fled to the interior of Switzerland.

8. May 2020

Extreme pictures from extreme times

by Kurt Messmer

Two German painters, contemporaries, reacted to the ‘age of catastrophe’ of 1914-1945 in very different ways. One painted a harsh and objective depiction of the world he saw. The other persisted in a rural idyll. Both approaches are political.

6. May 2020

20th / 21st century | Culture

de en fr

A song goes round the world

by Dominik Landwehr

His voice touched millions. Tenor Joseph Schmidt died in 1942 in the Zürcher Oberland, on the final leg of his escape from the Nazi regime. Even today, the Jewish singer’s story is a moving one.