Women's Monuments

English

Deutsch

Français

Italiano

Presentation in Zürich

On 17th of January 2026 from 11h to 15h there will be the presentation of the catalogue with Swiss women monuments by Frauke Beeck and the objects: women on monuments. Location: Bitwäscherei Zürich. Further information on the event

Project description

GLAM Strategy 2023-2028

When we think of monuments in Switzerland, those dedicated to men usually come to mind first. Women have so far been largely absent from historical accounts. This makes it difficult to find monuments that honor women’s achievements. Yet they do exist, even if they are rare. Below is a list of Swiss women’s monuments accessible in public spaces. Please use the list to write herstory and to update articles on women's achievements. In case you have more information and find more monuments please help by adding the list.

FATart organizes a book presentation in January 2026 with artist Frauke Beeck on Swiss women's monuments at Bitwäscherei in Zurich. Further informations find at FATart.

This project is part of the GLAM programme and is supported by Wikimedia CH.

   

List of women's monuments in Switzerland

Locations and Descriptions

Person	Years of life	Notability	Year	Material	by	Location	Image	Remarks
Verena	* c. 260 in Thebes; † c. 320 in Zurzach	Patron saint and healer	1875	Stone	Robert Dorer	Verenahof in Baden AG Location
Verena	* c. 260 in Thebes; † c. 320 in Zurzach	Patron saint and healer	1970	Bronze	Ernst Suter	Rhine Bridge in Zurzach AG Location
Verena	* c. 260 in Thebes; † c. 320 in Zurzach	Patron saint and healer	1983	Stone	Erich Hauser	In front of the Verena Minster in Zurzach AG Location
Verena	* c. 260 in Thebes; † c. 320 in Zurzach	Patron saint and healer	1990	Bronze	Bettina Eichin	Spa park in Zurzach AG Location
Wiborada	* 900; † 926 in St. Gallen	Hermit, consecrated virgin and martyr of the Catholic Church	1926	Sandstone	Josef Büsser	Wiborada Fountain in St. Gallen SG Location		In 1047, Wiborada was canonized as the first woman by a pope
Elizabeth of Hungary	* 1207 in Pressburg; † 1231 in Marburg an der Lahn	Dedicated her life to helping the needy and the sick	1863	Sandstone	Heinrich Rudolf Meili	Elisabethenstrasse in Basel BS Location
Hedwig ab Burghalden	* before 1300	Legendary leader who repelled the Habsburgs in 1292	1912	Iron statue, fountain	Gustav Siber	Lindenhof in Zurich ZH Location
Gertrud Wagner	* c. 1300; † unknown	Hospital founder	1969	Bronze statue, fountain	Alexander Zschokke	Vordere Vorstadt 8 in Aarau AG Location
Anna Seiler	First mentioned in 1348; † 1360 in Bern	Hospital founder	1545	Stone	Studio Hans Gieng	Marktgasse in Bern BE Location
Anna Seiler	First mentioned in 1348; † 1360 in Bern	Hospital founder	1970	Bronze	Eleonore von Mülinen	Freiburgstrasse 41 in Bern BE Location
Dorothea von Flüe	* 1430/32; † 1487	Wife of the mystic Nikolaus von Flüe	1991	Bronze	Rolf Brem	Village church in Sachseln OW Location		Further casts of this statue exist in Switzerland, e.g., on Hertensteinstrasse in Lucerne
Katharina von Zimmern	* 1478; † 1547	Last abbess of the Fraumünster Abbey in Zurich	2004	Copper	Anna-Maria Bauer	Fraumünster Abbey in Zurich Location
Duonna Lupa	* c. 1499	Legendary figure	1905	Stone fountain	Adolf Meyer	Untertor Chur GR Location		Another fountain for Duonna Lupa stands in front of the Blasius Church in Tschlin GR
Catherine Royaume	* c. 1542; † 1603/05	Swiss folk heroine	1905	Plaster relief above the gate	unknown	Rue de la Corraterie 7 in Geneva GE Location
Margarethe Schell	* 1672; † 1740	Local character	1977	Fountain with bronze statue	Rolf Brem	Untere Altstadt 30 in Zug ZG Location		She is considered the model for the Zug Carnival figure Greth Schell
Anna Göldi	* 1748; † 1782	She was one of the last women in Europe to be accused of witchcraft and executed.	2014	Two red-lit windows and commemorative plaque	Hurter-Urech	Glarus Courthouse, GL Location		In Glarus is the Anna Göldi Museum
Marie Tussaud	* 1761; † 1850	Opened her first wax museum in London in 1835	2017	Wood	Inigo Gheyselinck	Arboretum de l'Aubonne VD Location
Germaine de Staël	* 1766; † 1817	Writer and pioneer of the sociology of literature	1817	Marble	Christian Friedrich Tieck	Bibliothèque de Genève GE Location
Anna Eynard-Lullin	* 1793; † 1868	Art lover and philanthropist	Before 1868	Marble	Frédéric Guillaume Dufaux	Bibliothèque de Genève GE Location
Johanna Spyri	* 1827; † 1901	Writer	2017	Wood	Inigo Gheyselinck	Heidiland Rest Area Maienfeld GR Location		In Maienfeld, since 1953 there has been the Heidi Fountain by the sculptor Hans Walt
Lucy Walker	* 1836; † 1916	In 1907, she succeeded as the first woman to climb the Matterhorn	2021	Bronze	Stefan Mesmer-Edelmann	Museumsplatz in Zermatt VS Location
Empress Elisabeth of Austria	* 1837; † 1889	Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary	1998	Bronze	Philip Jackson	Quai du Mont-Blanc 10 in Geneva GE Location
Empress Elisabeth of Austria	* 1837; † 1889	Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary	1902	Marble	Antonio Chiattone	Rose Park in Montreux-Territet VD Location
Isabelle Kaiser	* 1866; † 1925	Poet and author	1935	Bronze, stone fountain	Hans von Matt	On Lake Lucerne in Beckenried NW Location		Winner of the Swiss Schiller Prize 1911
Anna de Noailles	* 1876; † 1933	Poet	1936	Bronze	James Vibert	Quai Perdonnet in Vevey VD Location
Emilie Kempin-Spyri	* 1853; † 1901	Lawyer	2008	Oversized chaise longue with oversized footstool	Pipilotti Rist	Atrium of the University of Zurich ZH Location
Lux Guyer	* 1894; † 1955	Architect	2017	Wood	Inigo Gheyselinck	Open-air museum Ballenberg in Hofstetten BE Location
Gilberte Montavon de Courgenay	* 1896; † 1957	Waitress and symbol of national unity against Nazi Germany	2017	Wood	Inigo Gheyselinck	"La Petite Gilberte" in Courgenay Location		In 1915/16, the popular song “La petite Gilberte de Courgenay” was created
Alice Rivaz	* 1901; † 1998	Feminist writer	2020	Granite	Aurélien Gamboni	Lancy GE Location
Mother Teresa	* 1910; † 1997	Nun and missionary	2018	Bronze	Bashkim Beqiri	General-Guisan-Strasse in Winterthur ZH Location		Further monuments in Lausanne and Wil
Méret Oppenheim	* 1913; † 1985	Surrealist artist and poet	2019	Brass and masonry fountain	Méret Oppenheim	Meret-Oppenheim-Platz in Basel BS Location
Ella Fitzgerald	* 1917; † 1996	Jazz singer	2013	Bronze	Danielle Lauffer	Fairmont Le Montreux Palace in Montreux VD Location
Iris von Roten	* 1917; † 1990	Lawyer, journalist and women’s rights activist	2017	Wood	Inigo Gheyselinck	Basel University Library BS Location
Tilo Frey	* 1923; † 2008	In 1972, Tilo Frey was elected as the first Woman of Colour to the National Council	2023	246 tiles	Renée Levi, Marcel Schmid	Federal Palace of Switzerland in Bern BE Location
Monique Barbier-Mueller	* 1929; † 2019	Art collector and museum founder	1982	Bronze	Gérald Ducimetière	Rond-Point de Plainpalais in Geneva GE Location		Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva
Nine women’s portraits		On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Switzerland, nine women from Glarus are commemorated	2021	Memorial stele with text and image	Women’s Center Glarus	Public Park Glarus GL Location
Elisabeth Kopp	* 1936; † 2023	Lawyer, member of the Federal Council from 1984 to 1989	1985	Bronze	Andreas Henzen	Townhouse in Unterbäch VS Location
Aretha Franklin	* 1942; † 2018	Soul singer and pianist	2010	Bronze	Marco Zeno	Fairmont Le Montreux Palace in Montreux VD Location
Kathrin Altwegg	* 1951	Astrophysicist	2017	Wood	Inigo Gheyselinck	Mountain station in Weissenstein SO Location
Simone Niggli-Luder	* 1978	Orienteering athlete	2023	Wood	Inigo Gheyselinck	Education Center Wald in Lyss BE Location

See also

• Liste von Denkmälern für Frauen in der Schweiz
• Liste von Denkmälern für Frauen in Deutschland
• Liste der Frauendenkmäler in der Freien Hansestadt Bremen
• Liste von Denkmälern für Frauen in Niedersachsen

Sources

• Frauke Beeck: Frauensleute Spraybilder Schweiz, Verlag FATart, Zürich 2025, ISBN 978-3-9525498-6-5
• Caroline Arni: Lauter Frauen. Zwölf historische Porträts. Echtzeit, Basel 2021, ISBN 978-3-906807-23-2