1st of Advent - Celebrate just as we always did

Mark Morisson-Reed touched us all with his account of Advent celebrations at the Ecole in the 1960s during the alumni Andacht on November 23, 2025. We discovered that many rituals are still celebrated today just as they were back then. From candlelight at the Advent dinner with tables full of peanuts and tangerines to the silence in the Grossen Saal and the telling of Selma Lagerlöf's The Christmas Rose...

Listen to his recollections or read them for yourself.

The present moment, the NOW of the Ecole d'Humanité, extends far into time and space—across decades and continents:

People from all corners of the globe who have spent part of their lives at the Ecole meet with students and staff who live at the Ecole today. The vivid memories of their experiences 20, 40, or 60 years ago touch the hearts of the people in the Grossen Saal. What they're experiencing at the Ecole today will stay with them for the rest of their lives—and who knows who they might touch in the distant future, no matter where they live on this planet. Long live the Ecole d'Humanité—now and forever.

We wish you happy remembering on this first Sunday of Advent!

In Between frontpage

12 Books for the 1st of Advent

As in Mark's life, the Ecole d'Humanité plays an important role in his book In Between: Memoir of an Integration Baby (2009). An entire chapter is named after it, and it is the subject of others: exciting to read, not only for lifelong Ecolianers!

Lisa Schumph, our loyal friend from Canada, is giving away 12 copies of In Between. She will send them to the first 12 donors who support the Ecole d'Humanité during Advent.

Thank you all for your support!

Donate now and get the gift

Instead of donating online to the Ecole d'Humanité Foundation based in Switzerland, you may also donate to the Edith Geheeb-Cassirer Foundation based in the U.S.

Donate to U.S. Foundation and get the gift
What do you remember from Advent at the Ecole?