Science fiction, utopia and extraordinary voyages: the Maison d'Ailleurs is certainly the only Museum of its kind in the world. Its very creation looks like a dream: that of Pierre Versins who, in 1952, while staying in Leysin to recover from the vicissitudes of the War, receives the first four volumes of « Anticipation ». It was the beginning of a passion for Science Fiction and a gigantic library which has continued to grow over the years.

In 1976, this avid collector, who has meanwhile founded the Futopia Club to bring together lovers of Science Fiction, donates his fabulous collection of 30,000 books to the city of Yverdon. The "Maison d'Ailleurs" was born: it set up its headquarters first at rue du Four 5 before moving in 1991 to the renovated former prison of the Place Pestalozzi. Created as a foundation, this new kind of centre has a double vocation: it provides public access to temporary exhibitions, to tens of thousands of books, some of which are unique or very ancient, but also offers the facilities of a research and documentation centre.  As such it has coordinated studies financed by the European Space Agency to find in the works of Science Fiction imaginative inventions in the fields of aeronautics and technology associated with the conquest of space. So, ready for a little voyage beyond reality?

Contact et informations: www.ailleurs.ch

Place Pestalozzi 14
1400 Yverdon-les-Bains
Tél + 41 (0)24 425 64 38
Photo: © Fondation de la Maison d'Ailleurs