Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum)
A fairytale castle of turrets and towers rising just behind Zurich's main station, the Swiss National Museum holds the largest collection of Swiss cultural history in the country. Its romantic 1898 halls now open into a bold concrete extension added in 2016.
Sobre este lugar
Rising on the Platzspitz peninsula where the Limmat and Sihl rivers meet, just behind Zurich's Hauptbahnhof, the Swiss National Museum is the grandest home of Swiss history in the land. The architect Gustav Gull conceived it as a romantic historicist fantasy, a picturesque cluster of turrets, courtyards and gabled towers borrowed from castles across the country, and it opened in 1898 as a purpose built showcase for the young federal nation. Behind that fairytale facade lies the largest collection of cultural history objects in Switzerland, more than eight hundred thousand items ranging from prehistoric finds and medieval religious art to arms, costumes, coins and the design of everyday modern life. In the summer of 2016 the museum gained a striking counterpoint, a bold extension in board formed concrete by the Basel architects Christ and Gantenbein, whose angular new wing loops around the courtyard and links directly to Gull's old halls, so that a single visit now travels from nineteenth century romance to uncompromising contemporary form.
Datos clave
- 1898 year — The fairytale castle museum opened its doors, designed by architect Gustav Gull
- 2016 year — A bold board formed concrete extension by Christ and Gantenbein opened beside the old building
- 800000 objects — The museum guards the largest collection of cultural history objects in Switzerland, more than 800,000 in all
📍 Museumstrasse 2, 8021, Zürich