Switzerland: Chaplin’s World Now Open for Visitors
One day after the 127th birthday of the famous British actor Charlie Chaplin, the museum Chaplin’s World by Grévin dedicated to the comedian opened on the premises of Chaplin’s former villa “Le Manoir de Ban” in Switzerland’s Corsier-sur-Vevey. While in the old residential building visitors can dip in Chaplin’s everyday- and family life, the newly constructed studio offers an overview of the cinematic inheritance of the “tramp” on some 1,350 square meters. A 150-seat cinema shows all of Chaplin’s classic films. Further, the villa’s park – a four hectare territory with view of the Genfer Lake and the Alps panorama – is open to the visitors as well. The project began in 2000 when the Canadian museum’s designer Yves Durand and the Swiss architect Philippe Meylan had the idea for a themed Charlie Chaplin museum. Nowadays Chaplin’s World belongs to the French Compangie des Alpes, which provided the place with its characteristic wax technology – encounters with some well-known actors as their wax-likenesses are a guarantee for each visit. “No other museum in Switzerland will draw people from the other end of the world,” promised Durand. The institution’s Director, Jean-Pierre Pigeon, expects over 300,000 visitors per year. (eap)
