Vernissage "Travel Reports of a Pioneer": Review

"Johann Conrad Fischer's travel journals are a treasure trove for research." The Iron Library fully shares the opinion of Prof. Marcus Popplow, Professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and guest speaker at the past festive event. Thus, in view of the 250th anniversary of Johann Conrad Fischer's birth, the Iron Library team set to work. The result of the two-year project in the form of a digital edition of the travel journals and an associated exhibition in the Klostergut Paradies entitled "Travel Reports of a Pioneer" was opened with a festive vernissage on June 8, 2023.

Among the more than 100 guests were – besides many friends of the Iron Library and colleagues from GLAM institutions – Jan, Andreas and Mathias Fischer: generations six to eight of the descendants of Johann Conrad Fischer. Roland Gröbli, Corporate Secretary of Georg Fischer Ltd and Chairman of the Governing Board of the Iron Library Foundation, welcomed the guests, and Prof. Marcus Popplow introduced the time and world of Fischer in his guest lecture. Franziska Eggimann, Valerija Rukavina, Nicolau Lutz and Christopher Zoller-Blundell introduced the project and the digital edition.

With a bell chime on a bronze bell cast by Fischer in 1817, the guests were then invited to an aperitif and a tour of the exhibition. Lively conversations took place well into the evening over ginger beer and "Sandwitchers" – just to the taste of Johann Conrad Fischer. It was a beautiful and happy evening and we thank all guests who celebrated with us.

Now we are looking forward to the reports from the anniversary trip, which you can follow live on Youtube, Twitter and Instagram from 12 to 22 June 2023. And in the digital edition, you can travel with Fischer through his diaries.