Kurt Messmer21.02.2023Over is over. The past is finished, set, unchangeable. History, on the other hand, is open, vivid, changeable, and thus disputable. Is there any such thing as certain knowledge? Yes – just not for ever.
Menoa Stauffer13.01.2023Comics smoulder, books burn: in Aargau in 1965, mounds of so-called “trashy fiction” ended up on a fire. The campaign was called “Fight the trash", and it was intended to set the scene for further book burnings. But the scheme backfired.
Thomas Weibel19.07.2022Nicolaus Copernicus is considered one of the founders of modern astronomy. His heliocentric planetary model unleashed an outcry in Reformation circles, especially in Switzerland.
Alexander Rechsteiner04.07.2022Twice a year, around 8,000 to 10,000 young men and women begin their course of instruction at Rekrutenschule (RS), the Swiss Army’s military training school. The “RS” run by the Swiss Armed Forces is nearly as old as the federal state itself. The first Rekrutenschule was conducted in Winterthur on 4 September 1849.
René Roca13.05.2022Of all the world’s democracies, Switzerland has the most extensive elements of direct democracy. The historical roots of this political structure lie in the country’s relatively well-developed educational system, and the rural uprisings of the 19th century.
James Blake Wiener22.12.2021The Swiss artist Karl Bodmer took part in the North American expedition of Prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied in 1832. Bodmer recorded his impressions in some 400 drawings and watercolours, which are still considered today to be the best and most important depictions of the vanished Native American culture along the Missouri.
Thomas Weibel01.12.2021‘A sturdy, high-performance assistant for all four types of calculation, right there in your pocket’, promised the sales brochure. The world’s smallest handheld mechanical calculator was made in Liechtenstein.
Hibou Pèlerin17.02.2021Due to the new lockdown of the museums, Hibou Pèlerin has been forced to take a compulsory break. He is using this time to read some new publications on cultural history. A brand new world history of the museum by Krzysztof Pomian has him riveted.
