Religion Archive – Swiss National Museum

1. January 2020

2020

Will we make history this year? Perhaps. In any case, the symmetry of dates indicates that we may be in for some special events, as a look at the past shows.

25. December 2019

Christkind, or Samichlaus?

by Alexander Rechsteiner

On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, the gifts are handed out! But has it always been that way? 150 years ago, 6 December was always the big day for children.

28. November 2019

Festival of symbols and customs

by Andrej Abplanalp

At Christmas, it has become the norm for diverse symbols and traditions to be intermingled. But that hasn’t always been the case. A look back.

13. September 2019

20th / 21st century | Religion

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From 1834 onwards, missionaries from Basel headed to India in their droves to convert the indigenous population to Christianity. The Basel Mission not only founded schools and hospitals in India, but also set up weaving mills and brickworks where the missionaries employed their Indian converts.