Founded in 1949
When U.S. government headquarters in Bern, Switzerland, was still a legation headed by a minister, the minister’s wife and several other American women of the city met periodically to sew and knit and chat. In 1949 they decided to expand, founding the American Women’s Group. The word “group” because the official who gave the final endorsement objected to the word “club”. It reminded him of a “gathering of cackling hens.”
Throughout its first decade, the club’s membership swelled. Luncheons at fine local restaurants cost about five francs, ice water included! Once enrollment topped 50, the women renamed their group, and the American Women’s Club of Bern was born.
To Welcome, to Introduce and to Help
For over 75 years, the club has always welcomed American newcomers to Bern and introduced them to life in Switzerland.
The club has long placed a strong emphasis on charitable giving. During the polio epidemic of the early 1950s, AWC funds were used to purchase two iron lungs for Tiefenau Hospital. In the 1960s, the club raised CHF 33,000 to support the construction of the Rossfeld Home for children with physical disabilities. More recently, AWCBern has helped send Swiss children with cancer to a summer camp in the United States affiliated with Paul Newman. The club has also supported the Villa Maria women’s shelter in Bern, the Ronald McDonald House in Bern, which provides low-cost accommodations for the families of children receiving hospital care, and instinctive self-defense classes for women in Delhi and Mumbai.
Which Continues Today
Today, whatever the event, American women in Bern know they can count on the American Women’s Club to keep them in touch.