Events
May 15 2025 - Panel Discussion on the Material Culture of Religion
On May 15, 2025, a panel discussion organized by the Swiss Journal of Religious and Cultural History (SZRKG) took place at the University of Teacher Education in Lucerne. The focus was on how material objects acquire meaning in religious contexts and what role they play for memory, identity, and spirituality. The contributions made it clear that religious objects are often more than mere artifacts – they are carriers of complex meanings and historical experiences.
The discussion, featuring Peter Erhart (St. Gallen), Heidy Greco-Kaufmann (Lucerne), Manuel Menrath (Lucerne), and Daniel Sidler (Bern), highlighted diverse perspectives – from sacred architecture to indigenous appropriations of religious symbols, to the performative impact of religious objects. It became evident that material culture is not a passive heritage but is actively shaped, interpreted, and further developed.
The event offered not only academic depth but also space for lively discussions. It was moderated by Prof. Dr. Franziska Metzger (editor-in-chief of SZRKG) and Joël Mayo (scientific editorial assistant). The interdisciplinary exchange provided stimulating impulses for the study of religious forms of expression in both past and present.
26 November 2021 - «Escape routes - paths of faith»: What role does faith play for refugees?
The symposium "Escape routes - paths of faith" asks about the role of faith and religion against the background of suffered war, violence and persecution for those affected. The event will illuminate narratives of escape and faith from the perspectives of cultural studies, religious history and biography.
Registration/Contact until 17.11.2021
30 September/ 1 October 2021 - «Discourses on the Occident and Memory Spaces in Europe»
Conceptions of Europe, images of the self and of others, constructions of space and borders in Europe have been and continue to be defined, especially since the decades around 1800, by discourses of an "Occident". Discourses of the Occident can be described as polyvalently applicable discourse complexes that can be modelled and adapted and that are sometimes more nationalistic, sometimes more religious, sometimes more universalistic. The conference will focus on intellectual discourses, on agents and networks in various sciences, above all philosophy, theology and cultural sciences, education, especially history, geography and religious education, literature and art, media and political movements.
19th March 2020 - «Religion and Wealth» - Cancelled
The Swiss Journal of Religious and Cultural History (SJRCH) and the Raiffeisen Forum invite to a debate in which questions of religion and wealth, controversies over financial policy, ethics and social issues are central.
February 2017 - Conference «Adversus Christianos»
In February 2017 the colloquium «Adversus Christianos» took place in Fribourg. It offered the opportunity to deepen the knowledge of polemical literature: a great variety of arguments and polemical methods were presented. The texts not only attest to the respective milieu-specific expressions and the motives of their authors, but also allow conclusions to be drawn about the different conceptions of Christianity.
8th/9th April 2016 - Conference «Spaces of apocayptical thought»
The Symposium «Spaces of apocayptical thought. Discourses of crisis, last days, and renewal in the decades around 1900» was organised by Franziska Metzger, Mariano Delgado, Markus Ries and David Neuhold on 8th/9th April 2016 in Fribourg and Lucerne. Here you can find some impressions of this meeting with more than 70 participants.
30th November 2012/ 1st December 2012 - Conference «History of Religion Transnational»
As part of the change in the editor-in-chief, the Editorial Board Meeting «History of Religion Transnational» organised by Franziska Metzger, Mariano Delgado and David Neuhold took place on 30.11. and 1.12. 2012.
28th/ 29th April 2006 - 100th Anniversary - Conference «Religion, history, memory»
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of our Journal a conference under the title «Religion, history, memory» took place at the University of Fribourg on 28/29 April 2006. 22 speakers from seven nations participated at this conference.
General assemblies
Reports of the last few general assemblies
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General Assembly, 6 June 2025, Fribourg
The 2025 General Assembly of the Association for Swiss Church History was held on June 6 in Fribourg and was marked by a generational change. The interdisciplinary conference on Peter Canisius provided the framework for this transition and was largely organized by Mariano Delgado, the association’s outgoing president.
At the heart of the assembly were the by-elections for the positions of board members, president, vice president, and treasurer, following the resignations of Prof. Dr. Mariano Delgado, Prof. Dr. Franz Xaver Bischof, and Prof. Markus Ries. Elected in globo and by acclamation were Prof. Dr. David Neuhold (President), PD Dr. Lorenzo Planzi (Vice President), and Dr. Thomas Zaugg (Treasurer). The other board members, Prof. Dr. Franziska Metzger (Editor-in-Chief) and Prof. Dr. Martin Sallmann, who had already been re-elected in 2024 for another term, were confirmed in their positions.
Mariano Delgado expressed his satisfaction that the generational change set as a goal in 2021 had been achieved and that the newly constituted board can now begin its work on a solid foundation.
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General Assembly, 13 April 2024, Bern
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General Assembly, 27 Mai 2023, Ascona
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General Assembly, 30 April 2022, Aarau
- General Assembly, 6 October 2021, Lucerne
- General Assembly, 6 May 2019, Fribourg
- General Assembly, 22 September 2018, Fribourg
- General Assembly, 20 May 2017, Fribourg
- General Assembly, 9 April 2016, Lucerne
- General Assembly, 25 April 2015, St-Maurice
- General Assembly, 3 May 2014, Fribourg
- General Assembly, 20 April 2013, Fribourg
- General Assembly, 21 April 2012, Solothurn
- General Assembly, 7 May 2011, St. Gallen
- General Assembly, 17 April 2010, Luzern
- General Assembly, 25 April 2009, Fribourg
- General Assembly, 5 April 2008, Basel
- General Assembly, 21 April 2007, Rapperswil
- General Assembly, 29 April 2006, Fribourg
- General Assembly, 9 April 2005, St.Gallen
- General Assembly, 24 April 2004, Bern
Impressions
