Agenda

The exhibition presents the retrospective Alles fliesst (Everything flows), the equivalent of panta rhei, on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the sculptor Erwin Rehmann (1921-2020).

The celebration of his artistic work is also the 20th anniversary of the Rehmann Museum, which has housed the sculptor’s largest oeuvre since 2001.

Since the early 1940s, Erwin Rehmann has always sought material and philosophical answers in the sculptural process.

He explored the possibilities of sculpture in an unprecedented and unparalleled spectrum: from the raw expression of the human form to its abstraction and to the essence of matter itself.

The exhibition is all about electricity and its impact on the region. The starting point and important thematic focus is the first large hydroelectric power station in Europe, built in Rheinfelden in the 19th century.

Starting from the Rheinfelden power station, the two Swiss engineers Agostino Nizzola (1869-1961) and Charles E.L. Brown (1863-1924) laid the foundation for a network of electricity supply that today spans the globe.

The exhibition (Napoleons Ende: St. Helena, Arenenberg und die Geburt einer Legende) is dedicated to the life and death of Napoleon (1769-1821) in exile on St. Helena.

One of the highlights is the bed in which Napoleon is said to have died. The sarcophagus also contains many of the relics of the former French emperor.

His stepdaughter and sister-in-law Queen (of Holland) Hortense de Beauharnais (1783-1837) already presented them to her visitors at the Arenenberg in specially equipped display cabinets. She also used them to introduce herself and her son Louis Napoléon (1808-1873) in their Thurgau exile as Napoleon’s rightful heirs.

A unique feature of the exhibition is the installation of the Napoleon grave in the castle park. In 1821/22, Hortense and Napoleon’s confidant Gaspard Gourgaud (1783-1852) planted a willow called “Saule de Sainte-Hélène” in the western park of the palace, in imitation of the original grave on St. Helena.

It is no ordinary willow but a “Babylonian willow”. There are many indications that there was also a stone tomb under the Arenenberg tree. For the special exhibition, an installation will visualise the tomb copy.

Another room is dedicated to the relationship between Napoleon and Lake Constance. Although he never visited this site, his decisions continue to impact the region to this day.

The exhibition is part of an international project by the Fondation Napoleon (https://fondationnapoleon.org).