Associated Institute of

Key information

  • Publication date:10 October 2025
  • Workload:100%
  • Place of work:Zürich

Job summary

Bettina Hürlimann (1909-1983) was a notable children's book publisher. She created a supportive environment for illustrators and collectors.

Tasks

  • Managed a significant collection of children's illustrations and books.
  • Published works highlighting the history of children's literature.
  • Built personal networks with international illustrators and artists.

Skills

  • Experience in children's publishing and illustration curation.
  • Strong organizational and cataloging skills.
  • Ability to foster creative collaborations.

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Associated Institute ofSupportFor Ms. Bettina Hürlimann, warmlyFrom Anna Lehninger, associate researcher at SIKJMBettina Hürlimann (1909-1983) is today mainly known as a publisher of children’s books at Atlantis and for her exquisite collection of children’s books. That she also possessed an exquisite picture collection of over 400 illustration designs, picture greetings, historical picture sheets, and children’s drawings is much less known.Hürlimann was active as a children’s book publisher in Zurich from 1936 to 1974. In addition to her work for Atlantis Verlag, she privately collected historical and contemporary children’s books. But she did not limit herself to collecting; she also published several specialist publications on the history of the children’s book and thus also its illustration.Parallel to her book collection, which today forms one of the core holdings of the SIKJM library, Hürlimann collected drawings, prints, and collages by international and Swiss illustrators over decades. These were on the one hand products of their joint work, but also testimonies of personal friendships that adorned the walls of her office and private rooms.From A like Akaba to Z like Štěpán ZavřelRuth Fassbind-Eigenheer’s 1992 publication The Bettina Hürlimann Children’s Book Collection is not only an important source for the book collection, but some pages are also dedicated to the picture collection, which she organized and catalogued.Following the card index alphabetically by the names of the illustrators, we first encounter a finely watercolored leporello by the Japanese illustrator Akaba Suekichi with Japanese "toys of a Japanese samurai." The elegantly bound work was a personal gift to Bettina Hürlimann in 1983.For Paul Nussbaumer’s classic Barry about the famous St. Bernard dog, for which Hürlimann wrote the text, numerous original ink drawings have been preserved, showing the illustrator as a true master of hatching. From the German silhouette artist Lotte Reiniger, whom she had known since early youth from Potsdam, the publisher received the six-part picture cycle Apollo and Daphne. The alphabetical endpoint is a moody winter picture by Štěpán Zavřel.Network of a CollectorThe pictures not only provide information about the broad content and design spectrum of the children’s books from Atlantis, but also give an overview of the publisher’s international network. Personal dedications on drawings and graphics by Alois Carigiet or Albín Brunovský illustrate on the one hand their drawing skills, but also their personal connection to Hürlimann. Heidrun Petrides once sent her a tiny leporello with Christmas greetings. From Felix Hoffmann, who never published a book at Atlantis, she received the drawing for the cover of Joggeli wott go Birli schüttle from 1963 as well as individual prints for his fairy tale books and Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain.From Japan, Chiyoko Nakatani, Akaba Suekichi, and Yasuo Segawa are represented with larger groups of works in the collection and, like pictures by Eastern European illustrators such as Štěpán Zavřel, Jiří Trnka, or Józef Wilkoń, expand the stylistic range of the children’s book program.Children’s DrawingsA folder with 63 drawings by children forms another part of the Hürlimann picture collection, documenting her diverse collecting interests. The collection mainly consists of drawings from the publisher’s personal environment: for example, one shows "Mrs. Hürlimann with her baby in a pram." Other children’s drawings seem to have come into her possession through private channels in Berlin or through publishing work. That her interest was not incidental is evidenced by several articles on the subject of children’s drawings from various magazines, which she mainly collected in the early 1930s. In Hürlimann’s estate, there are also some publications from the 1960s about international drawing competitions that the Indian cartoonist Shankar, who was friends with her, organized annually for children from all over the world. She also used some children’s drawings from her collection for illustrations in the magazine Atlantis.Picture Sheets and Games. The Long 19th CenturyIn addition to contemporary original illustrations and children’s drawings, Hürlimann had another collecting focus on historical picture sheets. These come from both the German-speaking area and from France and England. They share a thematic connection to topics of interest to children: cut-out sheets, factual topics such as travel, history, and architecture, fairy tales, or animals. In addition to a majority of sheets from the 19th century, there are also some from the 20th century by Susanne Ehmcke and Friedrich Böer.Bettina Hürlimann repeatedly contributed articles on her subject area of children’s literature and culture to the magazine Atlantis. For example, in the December 1960 issue, an article titled "The Picture Sheet and Us" appeared, in which she discussed picture sheets from her own collection.

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