Picturesquely situated on the shores of Lake Zurich near Rapperswil's castle hill, the sprawling historic Hotel Schwanen (Under the Swan) is the new headquarters of the Swiss branch of the Witold Pilecki Institute for Solidarity and Valour and the Polish Museum in Rapperswil.

Spectacular deal

The complex was purchased in 2022 with public funds by the Pilecki Institute, set up by the Law and Justice government to conduct scientific research on 20th-century totalitarianisms. The emotionally charged transaction amounted to 27 million Swiss francs and was a solution to the issue of finding a new home for the Polish Museum, which had existed - intermittently - since 1870. The purchase was necessitated by the institution's need to vacate its previous premises, in accordance with a 2020 decision by the Rapperswil-Jona municipality following the results of a referendum among residents. From the moment the decision was announced until 2022, the Polish government intensively searched for new exhibition space in Switzerland, in line with the wishes of the Polish community.

The significance of the Hotel Schwanen in the history of Polish emigration

In the end, it was decided that the historic hotel, where the foundation act of the Polish Museum was solemnly signed in 1870, would be the new headquarters of the museum. From the 19th century, the hotel was the centre of the city's social life, a meeting place for Polish independence activists and intellectuals, as well as for the authorities of the Polish Museum. The hotel also served as a space for patriotic ceremonies, making it an important point on the map of memorials for the Polish diaspora in Switzerland.

The Schwanen Hotel will house exhibition spaces for permanent and temporary exhibitions, conference rooms, a hotel and a restaurant. Work is currently underway to adapt the building for its new purposes. Prior to its reopening, the Pilecki Institute in Switzerland, in cooperation with the Polish Museum in Rapperswil, has temporarily revitalised the empty spaces of the hotel by organising temporary exhibitions: "Magna Res Libertas - Freedom is a great thing" (2022-2023) and "Copernicus - the man who moved the earth" (2023).