Special exhibition opens in the Children’s Village

28.04.2016 - 11:38 | Silvan Thalmann

On 28 April 2016, the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation celebrates its anniversary together with friends, sponsors and key witnesses from its history. From 1 May 2016, the new special exhibition ‘Tanzania 360°’ and the ‘70 years of the Children’s Village’ pavilion invite visitors to discover the foundation’s history and its current projects.

news_103_jubilaeum_01 — In the ‘70 years of Pestalozzi Children’s Village’ pavilion, large-format cartoons tell the history of the village. © Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation

In 1944, the philosopher Walter Robert Corti published an article in DU magazine calling for the establishment of a village to accommodate European war orphans. The idea met with an unexpected outpouring of support among the Swiss public.

The first children in the village

On 28 April 1946, the cornerstone ceremony of the Pestalozzi Children’s Village was held in Trogen. Volunteers from Switzerland and many other countries helped to build the houses. The first war orphans to find a new home in the Children’s Village came from the formerly warring nations of France, Germany, the UK, Poland, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Finland and Greece.

From the village into the world

In 1982, the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation decided to expand its sphere of activity. Instead of simply giving a better life to a limited number of children, the Foundation now aims to provide help in the affected countries directly. Today, the Foundation advocates access to quality education for underprivileged children. The Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation is involved with projects in Switzerland, East Africa, South-East Asia, South-East Europe and Central America.

Intercultural exchange and accommodating refugees

Today, more than 2,000 children and young people from Switzerland and South-East Europe take part in intercultural exchange projects in the Children’s Village every year, during which they engage with different cultural and religious backgrounds in order to learn the foundations of peaceful coexistence. Since May 2016, unaccompanied minor asylum seekers have been housed in the Children’s Village, as the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden organises their accommodation and care.