Our first-ever TOK day kicked off in the Sozialarchiv Zurich, right next to Stadelhofen. The Sozialarchiv collects material regarding social events and changes. Many articles, political posters and other things can be found and researched there, free of charge and with the amazing help of the workers. We received an introduction how to research in the files of the Sozialarchiv. For everyone interested in the Sozialarchiv, their website can be found under this link: 

In the afternoon, we had to develop a tour through Zurich for someone who is particularly interested in history. What I found especially interesting was that most of us chose places like the Altstadt or impressive buildings such as the Opera House. This made me wonder why we tend to focus on these places when thinking about Zurich’s history, while the industrial side of the city seems to be considered less relevant. It was interesting to see how biased our own understanding of history can be, often without us even realising it.

Furthermore, we discussed how our understanding of certain historical events is strongly influenced by the historians who wrote the secondary sources about them. This showed us that history is not always as objective as we might think, but can also depend on the perspective and interpretation of the people writing about it.

We want to thank Mr. Heutschi, Mrs. Auer and the Sozialarchiv for the amazing interesting TOK day.

Nicolas & Philip, 5i