Departure without Destination. Annemarie Schwarzenbach as photographer

Schwarzenbach saw herself primarily as a writer. Yet she was also a pioneer of photojournalism in Switzerland. Around 300 of her texts appeared in Swiss magazines and newspapers during her lifetime. From 1933, they were increasingly accompanied by her own photographs. However, since the majority of these images remained unpublished, the quality and scope of her work as a photographer has been relatively unknown until recently.
Most of Schwarzenbach’s photographs were taken during her travels, which between 1933 and 1942 took her across Europe, to the Near East and Central Asia, to the United States and Central and North Africa. Her work as a journalist, but also her upper class background and her status as the wife of a diplomat granted her an extraordinary freedom of travel for the period.

Her images and writings are closely intertwined and document the upheavals, tensions, and conflicts of the period leading up to World War II: the consequences of the Great Depression, the hope for social progress, the threat of National Socialism, the effects of modernization and industrialization, or the European fascination with the “orient”.
Schwarzenbach’s photographs also convey private themes, such as life in exile, the search for identity, homosexuality, or the desire to transgress conventional gender roles. But above all, they express Schwarzenbach’s unbridled passion for travel – and her search for encounters with the unknown, the “departure without destination” as an existential experience.

This exhibition is based on approximately 7,000 photographs in the estate of Annemarie Schwarzenbach, which is held in the Swiss Literary Archives in Bern and is open to the public.

As of 2021, the exhibition will be shown in a modified form with new loans on display.

Due to the high number of visitors, there may be waiting times at the entrance on weekends. We thank you for your understanding.

For online tickets select the calendar. The ticket gives access to both exhibitions. 
Further tickets as well as family tickets and free tickets are available at the box office.

Please note: From 27.04. - 07.05.21 our Klee exhibition will be converted.