Keystone-SDA
The Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel Center (CDN) is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025. The festivities of the institution dedicated to the writer and painter Friedrich Dürrenmatt will be launched on February 21 with Federal Councilor and Minister of Culture Elisabeth Baume-Schneider.
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January 9, 2025 – 3:50 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS) The CDN lifted the first veil on Thursday on the rich program scheduled to mark the anniversary in the coming months. Thus, it already promises three temporary exhibitions extending until 2026. The first will be entitled “Lotti & Friedrich Dürrenmatt – Music” and will take place from February 21 to June 22.
The exhibition will present a still little-known facet of the work of Friedrich Dürrenmatt, born in 1921 in Konolfingen (BE) and died in 1990 in Neuchâtel. She will pay tribute to his first wife Lotti Geissler, whose piano will be used during several concerts, the organizers explain in their press release.
Passion for Xamax
The second exhibition will focus on Football, with the title: “Friedrich Dürrenmatt and FC Xamax”. From July 5 to November 9, it will serve as a nod to the Women’s Football Euro in Switzerland, exploring the writer and painter’s passion for football, his works on the subject and his links with Neuchâtel Xamax team.
-Finally, the third will be entitled “Berlin-Neuchâtel with young artists”, a three-year exchange project of the CDN with the Berlin University of the Arts. From November 22, 2025 to March 2026, she will present the results of the project, with the WhiteSpaceBlackBox Foundation and the Académie de Meuron, school of visual arts, in Neuchâtel.
Beyond that, the CDN mentions free for all schools in Switzerland during the year for workshops, guided tours and self-guided tours as well as free “Family CDN” once a month. There will also be a “Valley Festival” on September 21, organized with the Botanical Garden.
Borne interactive
Those responsible also point out an interactive terminal dedicated to the architecture of the CDN by Mario Botta, to the places where Friedrich Dürrenmatt lived and to the natural setting in which the museum is located, the Hermitage valley. The CDN is a museum of the Swiss National Library, an institution of the Federal Office of Culture.
Please note that Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s office will be open every Sunday, in addition to Saturdays. Furthermore, partnerships will be established with theaters which will host plays by the author. Other events will be revealed throughout the year, the museum promises for the rest of the festivities.
In the future, the CDN says it wishes to strengthen its place as a space for artistic creation echoing the work of Dürrenmatt. To this end, the institution will continue its collaborations with today’s artists from various disciplines: painting, literature, theater and dance, in particular.
