Forum Schweizer Geschichte shows how children used to lend a hand
Published: Thursday, Feb 22nd 2024, 14:50
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In its latest exhibition "Working Children", the Forum of Swiss History in Schwyz has taken a look back at the 19th and 20th centuries. Back then, children had to contribute significantly to the family income with their work.
Using historical objects, photos, documents, media stations, testimonies and smells, the exhibition shows what children had to do in the past, as the Forum Schweizer Geschichte announced on Thursday.
In the canton of Schwyz in the municipality of Rothenthurm, for example, this included "Ischä" - the removal of ice in winter, working in the silk factory in Gersau or coloring pictures of saints in Einsiedeln. Other tasks included herding cattle, mucking out stables, haymaking, lace-making, spinning, embroidery and peat cutting.
The exhibition pays particular attention to the fates of children who were sent abroad. These include the Swabian children from Graubünden, children placed in other people's homes, orphaned children and the Ticino Spazzacamini, who were forced to clean chimneys in Italy.
The exhibition continues to explore the time when schooling became a basic right and child labor under the age of 14 was banned, as it says. Even though children continued to be used as labor in more remote and poorer regions.
In contrast, the exhibition sheds light on the situation today and how 160 million children from the age of five still have to work on plantations, in mines or factories worldwide. The exhibition starts on February 24 and runs until October 27.
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