Description of the attraction
The Historical Museum of Basel is one of the largest such museums in Switzerland. The main part of his collection is presented in the former old Barfüsserkirche church in the Old Town. The exhibition area of the museum is about 6,200 square meters. The Historical Museum appeared in Basel in 1894. At the heart of his collection is a collection of objects from the Middle Ages, which began to be collected half a century earlier.
The museum has three branches at its disposal. The main collection is kept in the Barfüsserkirche, musical instruments are on display in the Museum of Music, and a selection of toys, household items and exquisite furniture of past centuries is displayed in the so-called Cherry Orchard mansion. Until 2016, the Museum of Horses and Transport, located in the old barn at the Villa Merian, could also be named among the exhibition areas of the Historical Museum, but now it is closed.
The building of the former Franciscan church Barfusserkirche, built in 1298 in the late Gothic style, was used for its intended purpose until the first half of the 16th century. In the harsh years of the Reformation, the church was plundered and turned into a salt storage, and then into an ordinary barn. This continued until the middle of the 19th century. Then the sacred building was repaired and converted into a Historical Museum.
The museum exposition tells about the history of Basel and the Upper Rhine region. Most of the items in the museum's collection date from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Here you can see exhibits from the treasury brought here from Basel Cathedral, tapestries from Strasbourg, altars and sacred sculptures, a selection of gold and silver jewelry, ancient coins, valuable stained glass windows, weapons, etc.
