The Heidi exhibition at the National and University Library reveals how a literary heroine became a global icon and part of Croatian heritage

An exhibition about Heidi arrives at the National and University Library in Zagreb: how a girl from the Alps became a global cultural symbol

On Thursday, April 2, 2026, at 12 noon, the National and University Library in Zagreb will open the international exhibition “Heidi: from literary heroine to global icon”, a project created in cooperation with the Swiss Heidiseum Foundation. The exhibition will be set up in the lobby of the National and University Library and open to visitors until April 17, 2026, making Zagreb, at the beginning of April, one of the places where the life and legacy of one of the most famous heroines of children’s literature is being reconsidered once again. It is a character who, over the course of almost a century and a half, has outgrown the boundaries of the literary text and become part of a broader cultural memory, present in books, illustrations, theatre, film, comics, and contemporary media interpretations. It is precisely this multilayered nature and the ability to renew interest continuously that is why the story of Heidi today is not viewed only as a memory of childhood, but also as an important example of a global cultural phenomenon. In that sense, the Zagreb exhibition represents not only an overview of literary heritage, but also a story about how a work created in the 19th century still finds its way to new generations of readers.

The opening of the exhibition is being held symbolically on April 2, International Children’s Book Day, which is marked around the world on Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday. That fact gives additional weight to the entire programme, because the exhibition in Zagreb does not arrive only as an independent cultural event, but also as part of a broader international framework dedicated to reading, children’s literature, and society’s relationship with the book. At a time when reading habits are changing rapidly, and classic works are increasingly entering into dialogue with digital formats and new visual cultures, the story of Heidi shows how powerful and long-lasting a literary character can be when it carries universal themes within it. Closeness to nature, emotional resilience, childlike empathy, simplicity, and hope are motifs that have been transmitted from culture to culture for decades. That is why this exhibition is not intended only for connoisseurs of literature or heritage experts, but also for the wider public, which recognises in Heidi one of those rare characters who manage to remain contemporary regardless of the time in which they were created.

From a 19th-century novel to a world classic translated into dozens of languages

The novel Heidi by the Swiss writer Johanna Spyri was first published in 1880, and for more than a century it has retained the status of one of the best-known works of children’s literature in the world. According to data highlighted by the National and University Library, the book has been translated into more than 70 languages, which says enough about its exceptional international reach. At the very core of the story is a little girl from the Swiss Alps, yet it was precisely that local, simple, and emotionally convincing starting point that enabled the work to outgrow its own geographical and historical framework. In global reception, Heidi gradually became a symbol of childhood, of humanity’s connection with nature, and of faith in the possibility of moral and personal renewal. Such motifs did not remain tied only to the literary text, but over the decades flowed into other artistic and popular forms, from illustrated editions to screen adaptations that further expanded the audience.

The exhibition in Zagreb builds its fundamental narrative backbone precisely on that. Instead of stopping at bibliographical data or at a sentimental reminder of a familiar story, it follows the path of a literary character through different eras, reading habits, and media transformations. In doing so, Heidi moves beyond the framework of required reading or an exclusively children’s title and becomes the subject of broader cultural analysis. It is especially important that such an approach today also opens itself to contemporary interpretations, including those created with the help of new technologies and artificial intelligence. In that way, visitors are suggested that classics do not live only in the past, but also in the way the present takes them over, adapts them, and interprets them.

Johanna Spyri, the author of the novel, was born in 1827, and in 2027 the 200th anniversary of her birth will be marked. The Zagreb exhibition therefore also has the additional dimension of being an introduction to that great anniversary. It does not only recall the history of a single work, but opens space for a renewed reading of the oeuvre of an author who, behind an apparently simple story, left a strong mark on European and world children’s literature. In cultural policies and library practices, anniversaries often serve as a повод for formal remembrance, but a concept like this shows that they can also be used for a more serious reflection on literary heritage, its transmission between generations, and its place in the public sphere.

The Croatian trace: from the first edition to school required reading

One of the most interesting parts of the exhibition concerns the reception of the novel Heidi in Croatia. According to information published by the National and University Library, the Croatian edition was published as early as 1943, which shows that the domestic cultural environment recognised the value and attractiveness of this work very early on. From then until today, the novel has remained present in Croatian publishing, education, and reading culture, and the exhibition presents that continuity through more than 70 historical editions preserved in the collections of the National and University Library. That figure is important not only as information about the scope of the holdings, but also as testimony to the long-term presence of one title in different periods of Croatian cultural history.

Such editions offer visitors multiple value. On the one hand, they testify to how much Heidi was read and republished, and on the other, they reveal changes in book design, illustration approaches, and understandings of child audiences over the decades. A children’s book is never just text; it is also an object, a visual medium, and a reflection of the time in which it is created. That is why a survey of older and newer editions can show just as much about the development of society and publishing as about the novel itself. In that sense, the Zagreb exhibition goes beyond the literary framework and reaches into the history of book design, reading culture, and attitudes toward children’s education.

Particular weight is also carried by the fact that Heidi has been on the school required reading list in Croatian language classes since 1960. This means that the novel has been present for decades in the institutional experience of growing up for numerous generations of pupils. Books that enter school required reading often acquire a dual nature: for some they remain fond memories, for others compulsory reading, but in both cases they become part of shared cultural memory. That is precisely why it is interesting to observe how the character of Heidi in Croatia did not remain only within private reading experience, but also moved into the education system, thereby gaining additional social stability. That fact explains why the exhibition can also count on the interest of adult visitors who will recognise in it a part of their own school and reading upbringing.

Swiss archives and UNESCO recognition

Alongside Croatian editions, German editions and translations from the Heidi Archive will also be presented at the exhibition. It is precisely that international segment that is important for understanding the true reach of this story. According to UNESCO data, the Heidi Archive and the Johanna Spyri Archive have been entered in the Memory of the World register, that is, in UNESCO’s programme for the protection of documentary heritage of world significance. In official UNESCO materials, it is emphasised that this is a collection documenting the extraordinary journey of the novel Heidi through the world from its first publications in 1880 and 1881 to its status as a global transmedia phenomenon. This has internationally confirmed that this is not only a popular book, but also documentary material that has broader cultural and historical value.

The importance of that inscription does not lie only in the prestige of the UNESCO label. The Memory of the World programme is aimed at preserving and making accessible documentary heritage that transcends national borders and has universal value. When the Heidi and Johanna Spyri archives are found in such a register, it means that they are materials important not only for Switzerland or for the history of children’s literature, but also for a global understanding of cultural exchange, publishing, translation, and the transmission of literary characters between different societies. This gives the Zagreb exhibition additional weight: it presents not merely a popular title, but also material heritage recognised in the international system of protection.

Cooperation with the Heidiseum Foundation is especially important in that context. Heidiseum is engaged in preserving, researching, and presenting the heritage connected with Heidi and Johanna Spyri, and such institutions today have a key role in ensuring that literary heritage does not remain closed in archives, but becomes visible to the wider public. Thus, in Zagreb, Croatian holdings and Swiss heritage infrastructure will meet, giving this exhibition an international character not only in theme but also in the real cultural cooperation behind it. At a time when cultural institutions are increasingly seeking projects that can connect national tradition with European and global contexts, precisely such a model of cooperation is especially valuable.

Heidi beyond the book: illustrations, film, theatre, and new interpretations

One of the important messages of the exhibition is that the story of Heidi cannot be reduced only to the original text. From the first illustrated editions to theatrical and film productions, from comic versions to contemporary readings supported by artificial intelligence, the character of Heidi has proved exceptionally adaptable to different eras and media. That adaptability is not accidental. Children’s literature that survives for decades almost always possesses a firm emotional core, but also enough openness for different cultures to read it from their own perspective. Heidi is almost a textbook example of that: for some, it is a story of growing up; for others, a tale of nature and freedom; for others still, a narrative about family, community, and a return to simple values.

Such breadth of interpretation explains why Heidi continually found new forms of presence in popular culture throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Every screen adaptation, illustrative poetics, or theatrical adaptation actually opens the question of how a classical work can speak to a contemporary audience. An exhibition that places such transformations in the foreground shows that cultural heritage is not a dead catalogue, but a living network of interpretations. At the same time, it also opens space for discussion about how the digital age is changing our relationship with the classics. When Heidi today is interpreted with the help of artificial intelligence as well, that does not have to mean moving away from the original, but can also be a sign that old works are entering a new cycle of reading, processing, and visualisation.

For libraries and cultural institutions, that is an important message. They are no longer only places for preserving materials, but also places of mediation between historical heritage and contemporary audiences. The exhibition at the National and University Library can therefore also be read as an example of how a library institution approaches a classical work not only as a book title, but also as a cultural event that has shaped generations of readers, artists, and translators. Such an approach is particularly relevant at a moment when there is increasing discussion of the need to present classics to children and young people in a way that is faithful in content, but interpretatively open and attractive.

Cultural diplomacy and public interest in children’s literature

The exhibition is supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Zagreb, the Embassy of Croatia in Bern, and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia. That framework of support shows that the project goes beyond the level of an individual library exhibition. On the one hand, it is a cultural event that affirms children’s literature and library heritage, and on the other also an example of cultural diplomacy in which a literary classic becomes a bridge between two countries. Through Heidi, Switzerland shows the world part of its own cultural identity, while through the exhibition Croatia highlights its own tradition of reading, translating, and preserving book heritage. Such a combination is not common, but precisely for that reason it has additional value.

In the public sphere, children’s literature sometimes remains underestimated because it is perceived as something self-evident or exclusively linked to the early reading years. Yet the history of the reception of Heidi shows the opposite. Works for children often have a longer-term and deeper cultural effect than many books that, at the time of publication, were intended for adult audiences. They shape the first reading habits, enter the education system, accompany the development of illustration and publishing, and are transmitted through family and school experience. When such a work receives an international exhibition in a national library, it is also a reminder that children’s literature is not a peripheral topic, but an important part of cultural history.

It is also telling that the exhibition is opening precisely in the institution that preserves the largest Croatian library collections and that in its holdings has more than 3.6 million units of material. The role of the National and University Library here is not only organisational, but also symbolic: it is a space where national memory, scholarly work, and public culture meet. An exhibition about Heidi in such an environment gains an additional layer of meaning because it shows how a world-famous text can be viewed simultaneously as a literary phenomenon, an object of heritage care, and a part of educational and reading everyday life.

What visitors can expect in Zagreb

According to the announcement by the National and University Library, visitors will be able to tour the exhibition from April 2 to April 17, 2026, in the Library premises, and the library itself is regularly open for citizens and users on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Saturday mornings, with the note that individual deviations in opening hours are possible in the run-up to the Easter holidays. For the public, this in practice means a sufficiently broad time frame for visiting, but also a good reason to visit the exhibition precisely in the first part of April, when, in the international context, the importance of children’s books and reading is further emphasised. Given the theme and the range of exhibited material, interest can be expected from different groups of visitors: from pupils and teachers to parents, librarians, translators, literary researchers, and all those who grew up with Heidi.

The value of an exhibition like this is not only in the fact that it brings together rare and historically important editions, but also in that it enables readers and visitors to see a familiar story from a different perspective. Instead of mere nostalgia, before them opens a story about how a book crosses the borders of language, state, and media, how it becomes part of collective memory, and how cultural institutions make it visible again to new generations. It is precisely in that that the broader meaning of the project lies. Heidi in Zagreb is not only an exhibition title, but also a reason to talk about reading, translation, education, heritage preservation, and the role of libraries at a time when classics must constantly prove their contemporaneity anew.

In the end, the Zagreb exhibition shows that the enduring strength of a literary classic is measured not only by the number of copies sold, adaptations, or translations, but also by its ability to remain relevant in different social and cultural circumstances decades after its creation. Heidi is precisely such an example: a character created in the Alps of the 19th century, yet present in schools, libraries, family memories, and international heritage registers of the 21st century. In Zagreb, from April 2 to April 17, that long and layered story will be able to be followed through editions, translations, archival material, and contemporary interpretations, in an exhibition that combines literature, cultural heritage, and public interest in the book.

Sources:

• National and University Library in Zagreb – official announcement of the exhibition “Heidi: from literary heroine to global icon” and data on duration, opening, content, and partners (link)
• National and University Library in Zagreb – English event announcement with additional information that the opening is being held on International Children’s Book Day and that the exhibition is part of a broader programme presenting the work Heidi (link)
• UNESCO – Memory of the World programme page and the inscription of the Heidi and Johanna Spyri archives among documentary heritage of world significance (link)
• UNESCO / UNESDOC – document on nominations with a description of the Heidi and Johanna Spyri Archives collection and its international significance (link)
• IBBY – official page of International Children’s Book Day with the information that it is marked on April 2, on Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday (link)
• National and University Library in Zagreb – visitor information and Library opening hours, with special notices for the holiday period at the beginning of April 2026 (link)