Mrs. Ursula Markus first visited Bhutan in the early 1960s when her father, Augusto Gansser, one of the leading authorities on the geology of the Himalayas, was in the country at the invitation of His Majesty the Third Druk Gyalpo. A trained photographer, Mrs. Markus accompanied him on subsequent visits and captured numerous images during her travels across Bhutan with Blanche Olschak, many of which have never been publicly seen. We are delighted to share that Mrs. Markus has generously donated 625 photographs to the Wangduechhoeling Palace Museum and Cultural Centre (WPMCC).
In addition, we have also received a generous donation of 237 photographs (from 1952 to 1974) from the family of Mr. Fritz von Schulthess, a close friend of His Majesty the Third Druk Gyalpo who visited Bhutan many times beginning in the 1950s. This collection offers a rare and intimate glimpse into Bhutan during a period of important transition, capturing moments of daily life, landscapes, and the early years of the modern monarchy.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to both our donors for this remarkable contribution and for their kind consideration in entrusting us with this invaluable visual record of Bhutan’s past.
The collections were kindly carried from Zurich to Bhutan by Mr. Claudio Zingg, Co-President of the Society Switzerland-Bhutan, and his wife Marianne Frei, both long-time friends of Bhutan. We thank them sincerely for their assistance. It was also a pleasure to host them at WPMCC and to discuss potential areas of future collaboration.
We would also like to thank Mrs. Daphne Cunningham, the Vice-Chair of our Board, for visiting the donors in Switzerland, the Oltramare family for the photos by Monica and Fritz von Schulthess, and Dr. @wulff_mareike for initially connecting us with Mrs. Markus.