Swiss National Library

Switzerland is our subject

Every book, every newspaper and every periodical that has appeared in Switzerland since 1848. Everything published abroad that deals with Switzerland or its people. The complete works of Swiss writers and translators. The National Library collects printed and electronic publications from and about Switzerland, and ensures that they are preserved and remain accessible.
The National Library also incorporates the Swiss Literary Archives, which hold and catalogue the literary estates of authors from each of the country’s four language regions. The Library’s Prints and Drawings Department archives visual documents such as photographs, postcards and posters.
The Swiss National Library’s exhibitions shed light on individual areas of its holdings, and offer an insight into Switzerland’s rich written cultural heritage.

Audio tour of the National Library - SILENT RUMBLINGS

Audiowalk

Is there a more wonderful image of peace and tranquillity than a library's reading room? But even when utterly immersed in a book, we readers are audible beings, and beneath the apparent silence of the National Library, there is a whole universe of sound waiting to be discovered. Come by and press play to start our unique audio walk.

Swiss National Library

Layers of women’s lives

until Sa, 14.06.2025

“Layers of women’s lives – Looking back at collaborative collages from 1975” is the title of the exhibition at the Swiss National Library running from 8 March to 14 June 2025. It presents a series of collages from 1975 that reflect women’s lives. Visitors are also invited to take part in a collaborative work during their visit.

In 1975 – to mark International Women’s Year – the Swiss National Library presented an exhibition of unique collages on the theme of women. The works were created as part of a competition run by the newspaper Basler Zeitung, which invited readers to reflect creatively on the role of women in society. The collages, made up of clippings from newspapers and magazines from the 1970s, not only offer a window into that time, but also give us something to think about today. The issues that mattered then – equality, role models and social change – still matter now. The exhibition not only shows how women were seen at the time, but also shines a light on what has changed in the intervening five decades, and what hasn’t.

In the exhibition ‘Layers of women’s lives’, we focus on a specific art form: collage. And we invite you to grab some scissors and glue and take part in a collaborative work, which will be brought to life in the National Library’s exhibition room.

Collateral events

8.3.2025, 1–4pm

Public opening event and launch of the collaborative work

21.3.2025, 6pm–2am

Museumsnacht

Visit our collage workshop

28.3.2025, 1–4pm

BiblioWeekend

Visit our collage workshop

16.04.2025, 4pm

Curator’s tour in French

with Benjamin Michelet, National Library cultural mediation

23.04.2025, 4pm

Curator’s tour in German

with Benjamin Michelet, National Library cultural mediation

14.06.2025, . 1–4pm

Closing event

Inauguration of the collaborative work

Private tours

On request by emailing kultur(at)nb.admin.ch

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Swiss National Library

Hallwylstrasse 15, 3005 Bern

T +41(0)58 462 89 35

marketing(at)nb.admin.ch