Welcome to the AIR FORCE CENTER with LUFTBILD SCHWEIZ
a foundation of the
former Swissair Group
Many years ago, an archive with more than 150,000 aerial views of Switzerland was established and built up with Ad Astra Airlines and later Swissair, i.e. their affiliate Swissairphoto und Vermessung AG. This archive was and is open to everyone. Communities, companies, private individuals all make use of this comprehensive collection. Historical photos are just as much in demand as the most recent photos of a mountain range, a settlement, part of a city or a specific building. Today we must fear that only a small portion of this unique and high quality collection will be preserved for later generations unless certain security measures are taken.
With black and white photos the process of decay begins approximately 70 years following their production, with colored photos this process begins even earlier after only 40 years. In order to save the extremely valuable and comprehensive culturally historical Swiss photo archive, the (former) SwissairGroup integrated the photo material with a market value of 5 million francs into the LUFTBILD SCHWEIZ Foundation established in 1997. The SwissairGroup financed the Foundation with assets amounting to Fr. 2.5 million and a loan in the same amount. The objective of the Foundation is to preserve Switzerland's aerial photo archive. This makes it necessary to digitilize and safely archive the photographs. Additional objectives of the Foundation are to maintain, update and expand the archive. The Foundation is under the supervision of the Federal Government (Federal Department of the Interior).
As of 2002, the offices of LUFTBILD SCHWEIZ are located in the AIR FORCE CENTER in Dübendorf.
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