Mercenaries, slaves, confectioners. Colonial traces from Chur via Sent to Soglio

Do you know why there are two sphinxes in front of the Graubünden Art Museum? Why have colonial objects from Leopold II's private colony "État indépendant du Congo" been in the Rhaetian Museum in Chur since 1906? And: Did you know that members of the Pool family from Bever were among the largest slave and plantation owners in the Dutch colony of Berbice? That there was a plantation in Berbice called "Engadina" and another called "Grauwbündenland"?

Swiss colonial history is dedicated to transatlantic flows of goods and finance, mercenary service, slavery and racism. For a long time, it was assumed that this was primarily a matter for the large cities of the Central Plateau. But now more and more traces have emerged that lead to small country towns, villages and also to the mountain areas: as mercenaries, confectioners and colonial goods dealers, Graubünden citizens were also directly or indirectly involved. In his lecture at the Cantonal Library, historian Hans Fässler tells the story of Graubünden colonial history – with a special focus on Chur.

Hans Fässler has been dealing with Swiss colonial history for 25 years and in 2005 published the book "Journey in Black and White. Swiss Site Visits in Matters of Slavery" (Rotpunktverlag, Zurich). Since July 2024, he has been on the road with his lectures on colonial traces in Graubünden (Bever, Splügen, Maloja, Val Fex, Sent, Avers).