Pascale Meyer08.01.2026From LSD and Largactil to Valium, psychotropic drugs fundamentally changed the treatment of mental disorders in the 1950s and quickly became marketing-driven products. Swiss pharmaceutical companies played a key role in this.
Hans Egli30.12.2025The production of matches using white phosphorus brought work to the impoverished area around Frutigen in the second half of the 19th century. The region subsequently evolved to become the centre of a match manufacturing industry characterised by child labour and hazardous working conditions. The worst effect was phosphorus necrosis of the jaw, a horrible disease that eroded the jaw bones.
Géraldine Lysser23.12.2025Often unseen, but rich in history: Christmas tree stands show how practical necessity spawned a wealth of innovation – from the wooden cross, to cast iron stands and the clamping technique.
Jakob Tanner16.12.2025Medievalist Marcel Beck kept a diary throughout his military service. It reveals a different, rarely seen side of active service during the Second World War.
Rea Köppel05.08.2025Following a trip to the Soviet Union in September 1953, Helene Bossert, a poet from the Basel area, was reputed to be a communist. Given the anti-communist spirit prevalent in Switzerland in the 1950s, the suspicion cast upon her would almost ruin her life.
Rachel Huber29.07.2025Born into an artistic milieu, Judith Müller influenced Bern’s art scene for decades. Despite producing public murals, taking part in numerous exhibitions and working to raise the profile of female artists, her work has disappeared from the public consciousness.
Stefan Keller24.07.2025In July 1960, a woman went missing in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley, never to be seen again. She was a psychiatric patient and the mother of seven children who had all been taken into care. The story of Maria Theresia Wilhelm and her husband Ulrich Gantenbein is a tragic tale, marred by violence and the arbitrary actions of public authorities.
Manuel Walser30.06.2025Photographer Eric Bachmann (1940-2019) shaped the perception of many events in recent Swiss history through his pictures and themes. One of his standout projects was his coverage of the 1968 Globus riots in Zurich and the unique way it combined informative value with aesthetic quality.
