Guided Tours “Between two homelands”

General guided tours

These guided tours through the exhibition “Between Two Homelands – Entre duas pátrias” offer a general overview. They take place on the last Saturday of the month.

Dates of the general guided tours (in German, 45 minutes):

Sat. 8/27/2022, 2 – 3 p.m.
Sat. 9/24/2022, 2 – 3 p.m.
Sat. 10/29/2022, 2 – 3 p.m.
Sat. 11/26/2022, 2 – 3 p.m.

Contact uș for guided tours in other languages.

Registration: info@brasilea.com.
The guided tour will take place with a minimum of 6 participants.

Cost guided tour: CHF 7.- (excl. entrance fee CHF 10.- / CHF 7 (reduced))*.

Guided tours for teachers

BRASILEA offers exclusive guided tours for teachers on Wednesday, 10.08.22 at 2 pm and on Sunday, 14.08.22 at 2 pm.

These tours provide background information on the exhibition and highlight topics and questions that can be worked on with pupils of different ages. The exhibition “Between Two Homelands – Entre duas pátrias” offers interactive elements as well as a didactic structure and, with topics such as migration, a reference to the present and to Curriculum 21.

Registration with the desired date of participation at: info@brasilea.com.
The guided tour for teachers costs CHF 5 per teacher.

Workshops for school groups

The BRASILEA Foundation offers exclusive workshops for school groups within the  program to the exhibition “Between Two Homelands” – Entre duas pátrias”. Exhibition themes such as war, migration, identity, homeland and the connections between Switzerland and Brazil can be explored in greater depth in an interplay between the exhibition visit and the educational activities.

Free entrance for school classes from both cantons BS and BL.

Thematic tours

The thematic tours through the exhibition “Between two homes – Entre duas pátrias” take up specific topics and deepen them. They can be booked by groups between 5 and 10 people. Larger groups are possible by appointment.

“Walter Wüthrich: A Life Story”

In 1939, BRASILEA founder Walter Wüthrich made the decision to emigrate. The then 21-year-old did not want to go to war – Europe was on the brink of World War 2 – and decided to emigrate to Brazil together with his best friend. In this thematic tour, visitors get to know Walter Wüthrich: His family, his education, his hometown (Basel). They are invited to dive into Wüthrich’s world and accompany the steps of what was probably the most important decision of his life: from the decision to emigrate, to the travel preparations, to the ship journey, as well as the arrival and the first days in Brazil.

“Brazil-Switzerland Connections”

The exhibition series “Between Two Homelands – Entre duas pátrias” highlights the multifaceted relations between Switzerland and Brazil. The first exhibition deals with the migration of Swiss to Brazil and of Brazilians to Switzerland. The guided tour “Brazil-Switzerland Connections” offers visitors an insight into the history of migration between Brazil and Switzerland.

Especially in the 19th century, many Swiss emigrated to Brazil. Swiss colonies were formed in Brazil and thus shaped the history of the country. Documents in the exhibition prove that Europeans like the BRASILEA founder were also welcome in Brazil in the 20th century. The immigration of Brazilians to Switzerland is new in comparison. Statements of Brazilians living in Switzerland show why these people live in Switzerland today and if they want to return. Why did these people migrate? What factors have encouraged migration between the two countries?

“Why do people migrate?”

The tour “Why do people migrate?” tells the life story of Walter Wüthrich as an example to show the reasons why someone decides to emigrate. The focus is on the two rooms of the exhibition that are dedicated to the topics of migration in general. What are push and pull factors in the context of migration? Why do most people come to Switzerland?

Visitors are invited to reflect on whether and under what circumstances they would emigrate.

“In search of one’s own identity”

“In Search of One’s Identity” uses the exhibition “Between Two Homes – Entre duas pátrias” to explain the founder Walter Wüthrich’s identity issues as well as Brazil’s search for identity in the 20th century.

The German-American psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson defined identity as the intersection “between what a person wants to be and what the world allows him to be.” In 1939, BRASILEA founder Walter Wüthrich did not want to stay in his first homeland because of family tensions and the upcoming war, and saw in emigration the possibility of broadening his horizons and finding his true identity.

Brazil, too, was preoccupied with its own identity in 1939: the Vargas government made great efforts to cultivate the “brasilianidade” and to convey a certain image of Brazil to the outside world, which made the country appear authentic, progressive and attractive.