De Quervain’s 1912 Greenland expedition and more – Our oldest films are online
The long wait is over. The Image Archive of the ETH Library has now made its oldest films available online for research buffs. Exciting historical expeditions, experiments and much more are waiting to be explored.
At last, you can access 86 film treasures in the Image Archive of the ETH Library also online by visiting ETH Zurich’s Video Portal. There are historical 35 and 16 mm films to be discovered, as well as audio recordings dating from 1912 to 1980.
Highlights from the holdings
Delve into the world of our explorers. Experience the Greenland expedition of Arctic explorer Alfred de Quervain (1912) or the countless solar eclipses in the 1960s and 1970s with solar researcher Max Waldmeier. Experimental films from the Institute of Aerodynamics (1958) are just as much at your disposal as test drives by Paul Jaray using a streamlined vehicle body (around 1930–1940) or the fascinating “Entstehung von Wirbeln bei in Wasser bewegten Körpern” (Production of vortexes by bodies travelling in water) from the Photographic Institute of ETH Zurich (1924). The films also include other highlights from the history of ETH Zurich, such as “Bau-Film über die Erweiterung des Maschinenlaboratoriums” (Construction film on the expansion of the machine laboratory; 1931) and “Der Eidophor: die bildspendende Flüssigkeit” (The Eidophor: image-projecting liquid; around 1944). You will also be able to draw inspiration from rare films by Walter Mittelholzer, from a private estate. These will take you, for example, on a North Africa flight in November/December 1932, or on various ski tours undertaken by the aviation pioneer in Switzerland and Austria back in the 1930s.
How do you access the films?
The recordings can be accessed online where legally possible. However, to find films that are not available online, you can also go to the video portal directory. These can be viewed on a large iPad in the Reading Room Collections and Archives. You simply need to make a reservation in advance by email: . Please note that the Reading Room will be closed until 28 February 2021 due to COVID-19 protection measures.
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