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Café du Château

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  • Christmas Eve 24.12.2024 10:00 - 17:00

  • Christmas Day 25.12.2024 closed

  • St. Stephen's Day 26.12.2024 10:00 - 17:00

  • 30.12.2024 10:00 - 17:00

  • Labour Day 31.12.2024 10:00 - 17:00

  • New Year's Day 01.01.2025 closed

  • Berchtold's Day 02.01.2025 10:00 - 17:00

  • Good Friday 18.04.2025 10:00 - 17:00

  • Easter Sunday 20.04.2025 10:00 - 17:00

  • Easter Monday 21.04.2025 10:00 - 17:00

  • Ascension 29.05.2025 10:00 - 17:00

  • Whitsun 08.06.2025 10:00 - 17:00

  • Whit Monday 09.06.2025 10:00 - 17:00

  • Swiss National Day 01.08.2025 10:00 - 17:00

  • Swiss Federal Fast 21.09.2025 10:00 - 17:00

  • Monday of the Swiss Federal Fast 22.09.2025 closed

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Anne Frank and Switzerland

Château de Prangins | 22.3.2024 - 29.9.2024
published on 27.2.2024

Anne Frank’s diary became a global phenomenon in the wake of the Holocaust. Chronicling 735 days of fear, hunger and the day-to-day routine for eight Jews in hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam, the diary is now famous throughout the world. However, few people are aware of the extent to which the Frank family and the dissemination of Anne’s diary are associated with Switzerland.

Edith, Margot and Anne Frank, and four other people with whom they had been in hiding, did not make it back from the concentration camps. Only Otto Frank survived, returning from Auschwitz in 1945. As a stateless person he eventually settled in Switzerland, and it was from here that he launched his quest to take the legacy of his daughter Anne to the whole world. Her diaries are a plea for more humanity and tolerance, and they have become part of world literature.

The history of the Frank family is representative of the fate of countless Jewish families during World War II: exodus, flight, deportation, murder. Keeping alive the memory of the Holocaust became increasingly important in the mid-1990s. The exhibition interweaves the flight of Anne Frank’s family to Amsterdam with the lives of her relatives in exile in Basel. The parallel stories of the two branches of the family, and how their lives unfolded during World War II, makes the viewer much more keenly aware of the specific threats to Jews in two small European nations.

The exhibition’s central artefact is the diary of Anne Frank, which is presented in facsimile with displays and exhibits adding further detail to her accounts of life in hiding. It paints a picture of the conditions under which the texts were created, and examines the history of their impact and appeal. Using objects, photos and documents, the exhibition gives a glimpse into the family’s life. Thanks to a partnership with the Anne Frank Fonds Basel and the Familie Frank Zentrum Frankfurt, which holds the family archives, the exhibition presents an authentic narrative and opens up a vista of day-to-day life at a particular point of history, also covering refugee policy and refugee assistance in Switzerland during World War II.

Images

Ausstellungsplakat Anne Frank und die Schweiz | © © Musée national suisse
Ausstellungsplakat Anne Frank und die Schweiz

Exhibition poster Anne Frank and Switzerland

© Musée national suisse

Anne Frank | © © Anne Frank Fonds Basel
Anne Frank

Anne Frank, Amsterdam, 1942

© Anne Frank Fonds Basel

Anne Frank’s diary | © © Anne Frank Fonds Basel
Anne Frank’s diary

Replica of Anne Frank’s red and white checked diary, Amsterdam, 1942-1944

© Anne Frank Fonds Basel

First edition of Het Achterhuis | © © Swiss National Museum
First edition of Het Achterhuis

Het Achterhuis (“The Annex”), a title chosen by Anne Frank herself

© Swiss National Museum

Anne Frank in the Engadin | © © Anne Frank Fonds Basel
Anne Frank in the Engadin

Anne Frank spent her summer holidays in the 1930s in Sils Maria in the Engadin.

© Anne Frank Fonds Basel

Anne Frank with family | © © Anne Frank Fonds Basel
Anne Frank with family

Anne Frank and her family in Amsterdam on Merwedeplein, their new home in Amsterdam, 1941

© Anne Frank Fonds Basel

Anne Frank’s pyjama case | © © Swiss National Museum
Anne Frank’s pyjama case

Pyjama case embroidered by Anne Frank, Amsterdam, 1934-1944

© Swiss National Museum

Yellow star | © © Joods Museum Amsterdam
Yellow star

Yellow star with the word “Jood” (Jew), Amsterdam, May 1942-1945

© Joods Museum Amsterdam

Forbidden for Jews | © © Stadsarchief Rotterdam, Collectie J. Van Rijn
Forbidden for Jews

Three boys stand with their rolled-up towels at the entrance to a swimming pool. Above the gate is a sign saying “Forbidden for Jews”.

© Stadsarchief Rotterdam, Collectie J. Van Rijn

A view of the exhibition.
A view of the exhibition.

A view of the exhibition.

A view of the exhibition. | © © Swiss National Museum
A view of the exhibition.

A view of the exhibition.

© Swiss National Museum

A view of the exhibition. | © © Swiss National Museum
A view of the exhibition.

A view of the exhibition.

© Swiss National Museum

A view of the exhibition. | © © Swiss National Museum
A view of the exhibition.

A view of the exhibition.

© Swiss National Museum

A view of the exhibition. | © © Swiss National Museum
A view of the exhibition.

A view of the exhibition.

© Swiss National Museum

A view of the exhibition. | © © Swiss National Museum
A view of the exhibition.

A view of the exhibition.

© Swiss National Museum

A view of the exhibition. | © © Swiss National Museum
A view of the exhibition.

A view of the exhibition.

© Swiss National Museum

A view of the exhibition. | © © Swiss National Museum
A view of the exhibition.

A view of the exhibition.

© Swiss National Museum

Please note that the downloading and use of images is reserved exclusively for journalists, teachers and other authorised parties. Images are only permitted to be used for the purposes of reporting on exhibitions, provided the captions and reference to copyright are included, or for teaching purposes. Many thanks!

Tatiana Oberson

Head of Marketing, Communication & Fundraising

Château de Prangins
Château de Prangins +41 22 994 88 68 tatiana.oberson@museenational.ch