Opened on this year’s International Children’s Book Day, the Heidi: From a literary heroine to a global icon exhibition was jointly organised by the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) and the Swiss Heidiseum Foundation.

President of The Heidiseum Foundation’s Board of Trustees Dr Peter Otto Büttner, NSK Director General Dr Ivanka Stričević, NSK Library Advisor for International Cooperation Jagoda Ille and the Foundation’s CEO Peter Polzin.

In addition to the comprehensive overview of Heidi’s remarkable international success, the visitors had an opportunity to find out more about the response that Heidi elicited in Croatia. The main part of the exhibition in NSK was a selection of the novel’s 67 Croatian editions, including the earliest one, published in 1943, preserved as part of the NSK collections.

This, second edition of the second Heidi volume was given to Marie Berger for Christmas in 1883 – her handwritten dedication has been preserved in the book.

The exhibition visitors were able to see a dozen samples from the valuable Heidi Archive collection, included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2023.

After closing at NSK, the exhibition will tour the public and school libraries across Croatia by the end of 2027, marking the 200th anniversary of Johanna Spyri, Heidi’s literary mum, and providing a unique opportunity for visitors of all ages to get inspired by this all-time classic.

This edition ranks among the historically most significant and best-known Swiss Heidi publications and also appeared in French, Italian, and Dutch. The illustrations were created by Martha Pfannenschmid, whose imagery had a lasting impact on the visual perception of Heidi.

More on NSK’s website: https://nsk.hr/en/news/exhibition-on-heidi-the-iconic-heroine-of-childrens-literature-on-view-by-17-april/