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Swiss citizens and companies were heavily involved in the colonial system from the 16th century onwards. Some Swiss companies and private individuals took part in the transatlantic slave trade and earned a fortune from the trade in colonial goods and exploitation of slave labour. Swiss men and women travelled the globe as missionaries. Other Swiss, driven by poverty or a thirst for adventure, served as mercenaries in European armies sent to conquer colonial territory or crush uprisings by the indigenous population. Swiss experts also placed their knowledge at the disposal of the colonial powers. And the racial theories prevalent at the time, which were used to justify the colonial system, formed part of the curriculum at the universities of Zurich and Geneva.
The exhibition at the Château de Prangins draws on the latest research findings and uses concrete examples, illustrated with objects, works of art, photographs and documents, to present, for the first time in French-speaking Switzerland, a comprehensive overview of Switzerland's history of colonial entanglement. And by drawing parallels to contemporary issues, it also explores the question of what this colonial heritage means for present-day Switzerland. Shown at the Landesmuseum in Zurich in 2024, it is presented in an adapted form at the Château de Prangins.
Following an initial presentation at the Swiss National Museum in Zurich, Château de Prangins plays host to an adapted version of an exhibition that sheds light on Switzerland's colonial past and its modern-day ramifications. Drawing on the latest advances in academic research, it employs a wide range of written sources, objects, works of art and photographs.
Although Switzerland never possessed any colonies in the strict sense of the word, Swiss people -- both individually and collectively -- and Swiss companies were directly implicated in Europe's colonial expansion. Colonial. Switzerland's Global Entanglements explores this long-overlooked chapter in the nation's history.
The exhibition consists of two parts. The first examines various examples of Swiss involvement in numerous colonial contexts from America to Asia and Africa, beginning in the 16th century. It traces the careers and development of Swiss individuals and structures that took part in the transatlantic trade in enslaved people, and made their fortunes dealing in goods produced by slave labour.
Other examples include Swiss men and women who travelled to faraway places as missionaries, or left their homeland and established colonies to populate and exploit land seized from indigenous populations, some of whom were wiped out. Fleeing poverty or lured by the promise of adventure, thousands served as mercenaries in European armies that engaged in bloody conquests. In Switzerland, written and visual testimonies from the colonies shaped public opinion on the populations of those regions, disseminating and reinforcing racist stereotypes. Universities in Geneva and Zurich expounded racial theories that were taken up internationally. Constructing a hierarchy of peoples, they sought to confer scientific legitimacy on a system of domination on a global scale. This panorama gives prominence to examples and leading figures from French-speaking Switzerland such as Carl Vogt, David de Pury, the Swiss Mission, the de Meuron regiment of mercenaries and the abolitionist S. B. L. Frossard.
The second part of the exhibition investigates the significance of the colonial legacy to modern-day Switzerland and its global consequences: structural racism, unequal distribution of wealth, environmental problems and more. A final section invites visitors to reflect and share their views on contemporary issues containing present-day echoes of the past, such as the presence of controversial statues in the public space.
Head of Marketing, Communication & Fundraising
Switzerland has been globally connected and entangled with colonies established by the seafaring European nations in Africa, the Americas, and Asia since the 16th century. colonial—Switzerland’s Global Entanglements offers a timely overview of this highly topical matter, placing a wide range of aspects in historical context and addressing as well questions of colonial continuities.
Contributions by distinguished scholars and experts from various disciplines investigate questions such as the involvement of Swiss companies in the trade with enslaved people, Swiss mercenaries in the service of colonial powers, the colonial legacy of the country’s missionary societies, and the research and collection of artefacts by Swiss scientists in former colonies. Light is shed also on the involvement of anthropological institutes at the universities of Zurich and Geneva in scientific racism.
Conceived as an illustrated reader, this volume is both an invitation and a stimulus to explore and to engage critically with Switzerland’s history of global interdependence.
Paperback, 284 pages, 49 color and 12 b/w illustrations
16 x 23 cm, 664 g
ISBN 978-3-03942-211-1
Œuvres de | Kunstwerke von | Opere | Works by
Gianni D'Amato, Samuel Bachmann, Tomás Bartoletti, Nicole Baur, Debjani Bhattacharyya, Helen Bieri-Thomson, Martine Brunschwig Graf, Claudia Buess, Khady Camara, Sarah Csernay, Céline Eidenbenz, Rahel EI-Maawi, Hans Fässler, Matthieu Gillabert, Priska Gisler, Anja Glover, Alec von Graffenried, Mischa Hedinger, Marianne Helfer. Aline Helg, Stefan Hertwig, Rachel Huber, Rita Kesselring, Philipp Krauer, Mukesh Kumar, Dimitri Lab, Stefan Leins, Monique Ligtenberg, Naemi Lubrich, Rachel M'Bon, Patrick Minder, Patrick Moser, Kanyana Mutombo, Tarek Naguib, El Hadji Malick Ndiaye, Carin Oberhiinsli, Jean-David Pantet Tshibamba, Andrea Rhyn, Davide Rodogno, Fabio Rossinelli, Martin Roth, Hannan Salamat, Jovita dos Santos Pinto, Léonie Süess, Henri-Michel Yéré, Andreas Zangger, Marcel Zünd, Lukas Zürcher
Participants in the roundtable discussions in Zurich and Lausanne, 2022, students of history at the University of Basel, Zurich University of the Arts, the University of Fribourg and the University of Bern.
Cooperations
TheMuseumsLab: Stefan Aue, Oris Malijani
Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noir (IFAN)
Font: Favorit von Dinamo Typefaces
The Swiss National Museum would like to thank the Ernst Göhner Foundation and the Willy G. S. Hirzel Foundation for their generous support.
