Basel Historical Museum description and photos - Switzerland: Basel (Topic)

Basel Historical Museum description and photos - Switzerland: Basel. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Basel Historical Museum.

Photo and description

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 Barfusserkirche 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. Its collection is based on 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 Barfusserkirch, 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, among the exhibition areas of the Historical Museum, one could also name the Museum of Horses and Transport, located in an old barn at the Villa Merian, 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's 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 sacral sculptures, a selection of gold and silver jewelry,

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Topic: Basel Historical Museum description and photos - Switzerland: Basel.