It is great to explore Switzerland beyond its scenic beauty and visit the memorials of Charlie Chaplin and Albert Einstein, the geniuses who gave the world new perspectives, and take a closer look at their lives and works. "What I most admire about your art is your universality. You don’t say a word, yet the world understands you!” said Einstein to Chaplin, to which he replied, “True. But your glory is even greater! The whole world admires you, even though they don’t understand a word of what you say.” A commonality between the two great men having this hilarious conversation, apart from their mutual admiration for one another and global fame, is their home, Switzerland. The legends have spent years living in the country. In honour of their lives, now, their homes have been converted into visitable museums. Manoir de Ban Also referred to as Champ de Ban Estate Manor, the property was Sir Charlie Chaplin's last principal residence until his death on Christmas day of 1977. He settled here in 1952 after being forced to leave America for his "communist sympathies" and pursued his self-imposed Swiss exile. He spent 25 "happy years" here with his wife, Lady Oona and eight children and even hosted a bunch of his friends from four corners of the globe, Marlon Brando and Truman Capote being two of them. Located in the small wine-growing village of Corsier-sur-Vevey, on the banks of Lake Geneva, the 35-acre estate is surrounded by the mighty Swiss alps and the UNESCO world heritage site of Lavaux vineyards. Canadian museologist Yves Durand from Québec City, turned the estate into a hands-on testimonial to Chaplin's genius, called the Chaplin's World Museum. The museum opened on 17 April 2016 and incorporates over 4,000 square metres of exhibition space dedicated to the public life and career of Charlie Chaplin, as well as gives insights into his personal life. Chaplin and Lady Oona still rest in Switzerland, buried in Vevey Cemetery. Einsteinhaus Einstein’s stay in Switzerland was shorter than Chaplin’s but very productive. He lived on the second floor of a three-floor apartment in Bern with his wife Meliva Marić and their first son Hans Albert between 1903 to 1905 while working as a technical officer at the Federal Patent Office. The great physicist revolutionised our understanding of space and time as he wrote his theory of relativity here. Today, furnished in the style of Einstein’s time, the apartment is open to tourists and documents young Einstein’s life during his years in Bern while still working on his dissertation, holding a full-time job and helping to raise a family. The museum also highlights the most creative period of Einstein’s scientific discovery, the year 1905.
20 Apr 2023
Pratishtha Bagai
