SWISS NATIONAL MUSEUM - ZURICH
Landesmuseum in the Old Town Tower
It
is expected that a country’s largest city will have a history
museum, though in some, the building is as fascinating as what is inside
its walls and halls. The Swiss National Museum in Zurich, the Landesmuseum
(in German) is such an edifice. The museum building located directly
next to the main train station was purpose built in the form of a castle
in 1898 during a phase of civic refinement which swept across Europe
in the age of the nation state of the 19th Century. The Swiss Confederation
was founded rather late in the scheme of European nations, becoming a
federal state in 1848. Each of the Swiss Cantons had their own history
collections but the founding of a national museum began discussion in
1883 after a successful art exhibition in Zurich, winning out over Lucerne,
Basel and the capital of Bern.
Designed
by city architect Gustav Gull, it is an impressive structure of medieval
towers and canon guarded courtyard with its own green park,
set actually on an island between the Limmat and Sihl rivers where they
join from the lake. It has been described as Neo-Gothic or neo-Renaissance,
but is actually a collection of architectural styles joined together
by Gustav, inspired by other castles around Switzerland, reminiscent
of the true medieval castle of Thun (see Thun
Castle Museum), and the
Baroque Stockalper in Brig (see Stockalper
Castle), right down to the Swiss
Post Coach in the courtyard. It is certainly one of the first impressive
sights of the Old City upon arrival in Zurich.
The
Landesmusem in Zurich is one of three Swiss national museums and one
of the most important collections of national cultural history in
Europe. It underwent an extensive renovation in 2009 and plans for a
further extension of the park lands plaza is in the works. The History
of Switzerland is the central exhibit following the history of the Swiss
region from prehistory through the Middle Ages up to the 20th Century,
broken into four themes exploring Swiss migration and settlement, religious
and intellectual history, political and economic development. You'll
even find a wholly Mammoth in the early dawn of man section. The Collection
Gallery focuses on the crafts and products of the Swiss culture.
Among
the museum’s more memorable sights are the eleven paneled period rooms
reconstructed at the museum their original location with entire rooms
from Fraumünster Abbey and Oetenbach Monastery, a royal stateroom
from the Palazzo Pestalozzi in Castelvetro, the parlour from the Rosenburg
Haus in Stans, living room from Schloss Wiggen and a reconstituted monastic
apothecary. The exhibition of Swiss Furniture and Interiors demonstrates
the idea that people’s needs appear to have remained the same from
the Middle Ages to present day apartment living with the furniture and
space adapted to the prevailing technology.
The
Swiss National Museum houses Switzerland’s largest collection
of costumes and traditional clothing, seen in rooms of poised mannequins
with rich garments from the 18th through the 21st century, with an important
one-of-a-kind variety of linen embroidery and decorative textiles. The
armory tower has a good collection of arms and armor from five hundred
years of Swiss military history, based on the contents of the old Zurich
Armory. The arms collection is grouped by themes ranging from such late
middle-ages upper-body armor and jousting helmets from Schwyz, to Baroque
ceremonial arms dress and Swiss Army uniforms of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Also on display are exhibitions of Roman Gold Treasure and of the Goldsmiths
Art. The view from the towers through lead panes offer an interesting
kaleidoscopic view of the park plaza below.
Visiting the Swiss National Museum In Zurich
The
museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm, and stays open
to 7pm on Thursdays. Entrance admission is 10 CHF for adults, 8
CHF for seniors and students reduced, and free for children under 16.
Entrance is free with a Swiss Museum Pass and Swiss Rail Pass (see Swiss
Rail Pass Value) available for those coming from outside
of Europe. With the museum just outside the Zurich Hauptbahnhof (through
a tunnel to the
north of
the platforms) the Zurich National Museum is an easy sight to visit in
Zurich for travelers with a brief stopover at Zurich Airport or for those
traveling about Switzerland by rail. While in-country, the national railway
has a discount rail and museum discount offer SBB
Railway Offer. © Bargain
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Swiss National Museum Zurich
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SEE
ALSO:
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RAPPERSWIL CASTLE ON LAKE ZURICH
