With the independent Department of Swiss History, the Institute of History at the University of Bern is placing a strong emphasis on researching and communicating Swiss history. It thus recognises Bern's role as a federal city and the presence of important national cultural institutions and research centres on site. The department's two professorships (Professorship of Early Modern Swiss History: Late Middle Ages to Early 19th Century - Professorship of Berger Ziauddin: Swiss and Modern General History from the 19th-21st Centuries) and the Lectureship in 19th and 20th Century History provide the basis for a trans-epochal and cross-border approach with their wide range of courses. Due to the high complexity of the conditions in a very small area and the generally excellent state of preservation, the history of Switzerland represents an attractive laboratory for historical research. Accordingly, the department's profile is characterised by methodological diversity and the breadth of its topics, which - in contrast to the narrow focus on national history - always considers Swiss history from the perspective of European and global interdependencies.
