September of 2018 will carry a special symbolic meaning for Switzerland. This year, the country is marking its 25th anniversary of European Heritage Days and is also partaking in the European Year of Cultural Heritage.

Honouring this extraordinary occasion, the 2018 European Heritage Days festivities in Switzerland will last for four weekends instead of the usual one. Combining this expansion with the truly inspiring theme Without Borders, Switzerland is setting out to create an inclusive and unifying experience for anyone who takes part in any of a thousand of free guided tours, walks and talks.

Explore Switzerland’s Outstanding Heritage

Local visitors, travellers, and tourists will get a chance to witness a highly diverse cultural heritage of Switzerland. Being predisposed to various dialects, landscapes, architectural styles, and customs, each canton in the country serves as a unique cultural landscape to discover. From a well-known tradition of viticulture, to the Belle Époque hotels in Ticino, the Bernese Oberland, and the Valais, Swiss historic sites tell stories that transcend its borders.

Evoking this context, the theme of the 2018 celebrations invites visitors to cross not only the physical, geographical borders, but to do so in a linguistic, sociological, material and chronological sense.

It proposes discussions on viewing the local monuments from children’s or migrants’ perspective and on making plans for the development of heritage for future generations. Furthermore, it poses questions regarding the relevance of viewing intangible heritage as separate from the intangible.

Finally, the traditional definition of heritage is being challenged itself. The goal has been set to define it as a fluid concept that does not relate to the past only, nor that should be finite. Rather, heritage should be considered as a constantly changing and evolving creation that is being built by the people and for the people.

Event Agenda

The European Heritage Days in Switzerland are traditionally made possible by the contributions of the Federal Office of Culture (BAK), the Swiss Foundation Pro Patria and the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences SAGW. The partners for 2018 also include the Federation of Swiss Architects BSA, the Association of Historic Railways Switzerland HECH, the Society for Swiss Art History GSK, the Swiss Association of Engineers and Architects SIA, the Swiss Commission for UNESCO and the Swiss Association for Conservation and Restoration SKR.

The dates for this year’s events are divided by cantons as follows:

1/2 September 2018: Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel, Vaud, Valais

8/9 September 2018: Grisons, Luzern, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Solothurn, Schwyz, Ticino, Uri, Zug

15/16 September 2018: Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Glarus, St. Gallen, Schaffhausen, Thurgau, Zürich,

22/23 September 2018: Aargau, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt.

For more information, order the free programme brochure on the official website.