In the shadow of war. Everyday life in the Rhine Valley

Curated by Margit Bartl-Frank / Ursula Stadlmüller

In March 1938, the people of the Rhine Valley experienced the annexation of Austria to Hitler's Greater Germany at first hand. Overnight, the Austrian-Swiss border became the border to the Third Reich. Switzerland reacted by deploying the Landjäger Corps in the Rhine Valley, closing bridges and fortifying them with barbed wire.

The growing danger was palpable - the chronicler from Berneck spoke of a "dark threat" emanating from National Socialist Germany in his village chronicle in 1938. With the start of the war on September 1, 1939, this threat became a bitter reality.

From 1938 to 1945, the inhabitants of the Rhine Valley went about their daily lives in a challenging time in which the threat of war was always lurking in the background.

The exhibition provides insights into the lives and experiences of the people of the Rhine Valley and allows contemporary witnesses to have their say. Together with photographs and historical documents, it shows the challenges that had to be overcome in the shadow of war.


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.