Heidi in Israel

Exhibition Opening

The mountains are Heidi’s world—and these have become a place of longing for countless young readers around the globe. In Israel, Heidi also took center stage.
With “Heidi” (1880), the Swiss author Johanna Spyri wrote Europe’s last, major tale about heimat and homesickness which has become firmly embedded in the childhood memories of innumerable people worldwide—in Palestine, and later Israel, as well. The motifs addressed in “Heidi” were identity-generating and of great emotional importance to young readers. First translated into Hebrew in 1946, Spyri’s novel appeared at a time when the subject of heimat, its loss, and new beginnings were highly relevant. The exhibition takes visitors on a journey through time, tracing the reception this Swiss children’s classic was given over the decades in Israel.
A photo installation by the Israeli artist Niv Fridman will be shown together with the exhibition.

Speakers:

Dr. Florian Roth
City Council of the City of Munich, representing the Lord Mayor

Elisabeth Bösch Malinen
Consul General of Switzerland

Dr. Peter O. Büttner
Heidiseum

Nurit Blatman
Curator of the exhibition

Bernhard Purin
Director of the Jewish Museum Munich

Musical accompaniment
Dr. Hans Peter Danuser von Platen and Ruedi Birchler, Alpine horn

Good to have you here! We will be taking pictures at this event. Please let us know if you do not want pictures you appear in to be published.