Valais Confronts Its Colonial History

Historian Lukas Zürcher examines the role of missionaries and the ways in which they helped shape Swiss perceptions of Rwanda, which was sometimes described as Switzerland’s “alpine sister.” Swiss-Rwandan filmmaker Shyaka Kagame explores Perraudin’s place in Rwandan history and the repercussions of his influence on his own family history. 

Helen Bieri Thomson, an art historian, director of Château de Prangins and a member of the management team of the Swiss National Museum, offers a museum perspective. Through a selection of objects, she shows how cultural institutions can tell the story of Switzerland’s colonial past today. 

These three presentations will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Caroline Montebello, a postdoctoral researcher, and Prof. Bernhard C. Schär, Professor of Contemporary History at UniDistance Suisse. The discussion will address Valais’s involvement in Swiss colonial dynamics, as well as the traces of this history in society and in contemporary narratives. 

For Bernhard C. Schär, the fact that Switzerland had no colonies does not mean that the country was outside colonialism. “Colonialism was never solely a matter of foreign political domination; it also had important scientific, religious, economic and cultural dimensions,” he explains. 

Through trading companies, banks, missionary organisations, universities and museums, Switzerland participated in European expansion. Valais was also part of these networks, although its role remains largely under-researched. 

The figure of André Perraudin illustrates this reality. A missionary in Rwanda, he exerted significant influence during the colonial period and after independence. His career raises questions about the links between religion, politics and society in Rwanda’s history. 

This history has also left traces in Valais, in monuments, museums, buildings and collections. The Villa Cassel, on the Riederfurka, is one example. Built by a German-British banker who made his fortune in London, it reflects the links between European wealth and colonial economies. The precise connection with colonial history, however, still needs to be investigated. 

For Bernhard C. Schär, the aim is not to rewrite the history of Valais, but to broaden it by asking new questions about the people, capital, knowledge and representations that circulated between the canton and the colonial world.The conference and round table on 25 August will thus contribute to a better understanding of Valais’s place in Swiss colonial history and its legacies today.