In 2019, the Institute for European Global Studies moved into the so-called “Sandgrube,” the former summer house of the silk ribbon manufacturer Achilles Leisler. This location ideally represents the research field of European Global Studies: Starting from this house, a wide variety of economic and cultural connections have emanated to Europe and around the world since the 18th century. These connections reflect the local representation of the global as well as the global influences on the city’s local self-understanding. Among these connections are the original Chinese wallpapers used to furnish the Chinese Room on the second floor of the house, the exotic gardens staged for global cosmopolitanism, or the far-reaching financial and commercial relations of its residents.

Today, the “Sandgrube” is an artifact for all traces left over in a local Basel environment by centuries of global exchange. In this Project, we follow these traces, starting in the Chinese Room, at the intersection of global history and virtual reality.