Dear relatives,

The response to our first letter was so gratifying that we decided to make the extraordinary Zschokketag a reality on 1 December 2019 at the Kultur & Kongresshaus (KuK) Aarau.

We hope to entice as many descendants as possible for this family reunion – there should be more than a thousand worldwide. Therefore, we ask you to forward this invitation to your children and grandchildren/offsprings/and their partners and to report their addresses back to us so that we can include them in our mailing list.

As a reminder, here is the concept for the day:

In the afternoon, various experts, actors and musicians will present our ancestor and the time in which he lived, in the KuK. On the assumption that most of us don’t know much more about him than the audience who will watch the film later in the cinema, we don’t envision the program for insiders but for people without previous knowledge.

Simultaneous translation into English (via headphones) will be provided.

Afterwards, everyone is cordially invited to an aperitif and convivial get-together, which will last into the late evening.

The afternoon program will be recorded via several flexible cameras. On the one hand, the film we are going to shoot in the summer of 2020 is about making it possible to experience visually what a person born two hundred and fifty years ago leaves behind (and perhaps the most important thing for him) in addition to his political and literary work: a whole “dynasty”

On the other hand, it is the individual program items we want to concentrate on, because they offer us the opportunity to jump from the data, facts and historical contexts mentioned in feature film scenes from Heinrich Zschokke’s life and back again; a convention as a dramaturcical trampoline.

The 90-minute feature film that will be made will premiere at the cinema in Aarau on the 250th birthday of our ancestor, i.e. on 22 March 2021.

We are happy about everyone who contributes to the creation of this overture and contributes to making this Zschokketag a celebration.

If you need overnight accommodation, please let us know. We will try – together with the Aarau tourist office – to offer deals tailored to individual needs.

We would also like to remind you once again that we are looking forward to every Super 8 film or photos and slides from past Zschokke days (we have already received an 8 mm film from Zschokketag 1948 from Samuel Zschokke, a rarity which we will of course present to you on 1 December)