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The diary of Anne Frank is world famous. It is less well known that the journey to global publication began in Switzerland. While Anne, her sister and her mother were killed in the concentration camp, Anne’s father was the only family member to survive the Holocaust. Otto Frank moved to live with his sister in Basel in the 1950s. From there, he made it his task to share his daughter’s diary with the world whilst preserving her message on humanity and tolerance for the coming generations.
In collaboration with Anne Frank Fonds, Basel, and Familie Frank Zentrum im Jüdischen Museum Frankfurt
Come and spend some time with us, we propose a large selection of activities for different target groups. A motivated and experienced team is awaiting you.
Guided tours can also be arranged outside of the official opening hours upon request.
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Registration |
2 weeks in advance |
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Duration |
60 minutes; special arrangements available upon request |
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Group size |
max. 25 people per tour |
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Languages |
German, French, Italian and English. Others upon request. |
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Cost |
CHF 120 for the guided tour + CHF 10/person admission Children up to 16 years free. |
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Anne Frank and Switzerland
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
Tatiana Oberson
Head of Marketing, Communication & Fundraising
- General Management Swiss National Museum Denise Tonella
- Management Swiss National Museum – Château de Prangins Helen Bieri Thomson
- Project management Nicole Staremberg in collaboration with Jonathan Fellay
- Curators Erika Hebeisen, Rebecca Sanders
- Scientific researchers Marina Amstad, Manda Beck, Thomas Bochet, Noëmi Crain Merz, Aaron Estermann,
- Marketing and communication Tatiana Oberson, Sylvie Nickbarte
- Advertising graphic design Resort GmbH für visuelle Kommunikation
- Cultural Services and Museum Education Marie-Dominique de Preter, Jonathan Fellay, Ines Berthold, Sylvain Frei, Valérie Guillermin, Debra Kinson, Nathalie Pellissier, Geneviève Suillot, Anne-Capucine Vernain, Madeleine Wüthrich
- Exhibition design Kläfiger muséographie: Stéphane Kläfiger
- Exhibition graphic design Enzed – Graphic Design: Nicolas Zentner, Mathieu Moret
- Exhibition furniture Actoform
- Decorator Nigro & Fils Peinture
- Printing Meylan publicité, Concise ; BSR-Imprimeurs, Gland
- Film The Rise of National Socialism Gabriel Heim, Bâle
- Animation and illustration Nino Christen, Maj Dörig, Zurich
- Exhibition construction Brandenberger, Atelier Goodwood
- Lighting André Schärer
- Conservation management Elke Mürau
- Conservation and mounting of objects Anna Jurt, Jürg Mathys, Tino Zagermann
- Logistics and montage of objects Christian Affentranger, David Blazquez, Simon D'Hollosy, Reto Hegetschweiler, Markus Scherer
- Loan services Laura Mosimann, Claudio Stefanutto, Samira Tanner
- Photography Jörg Brandt
- Picture library Andrea Kunz, Fabian Müller
- IT | Web René Vogel, Danilo Rüttimann
- Media stations Thomas Bucher, Ulrich Heiniger, Pasquale Pollastro, Danilo Rüttimann, René Vogel
- Translations Marie-Claude Buch-Chalayer, Bill Gilonis, Marco Marcacci, Laurence Neuffer
- Alice und Louis Koch-Stiftung, Basel
- Anne Frank Fonds, Basel
- Appenzeller Brauchtumsmuseum, Urnäsch
- Archiv für Zeitgeschichte ETH Zürich
- Familie Frank Zentrum im Jüdischen Museum Frankfurt, Dauerleihgabe des Anne Frank Fonds, Basel, und der Familie Elias-Frank
- Gedenkstätte Bergen-Belsen, Lohheide
- Historisches Museum Basel
- Joods Museum, Amsterdam
- Jüdisches Museum der Schweiz, Basel
- Kantons- und Universitätsbibliothek, Freiburg
- Museum Altes Zeughaus, Solothurn
- Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Zürcher Hochschule der Künste
- Plakatsammlung, Schule für Gestaltung Basel
- Fishel Rabinowicz, Locarno
- Urs Rudolf, Solothurn
- Bernard Schüle, Affoltern a. Albis
- Stichting tot Behoud van Historische Philips Produkten (SBHP), Eindhoven
- Stiftung Museum im Zeughaus, Schaffhausen