Basel Historical Museum – Barfüsserkirche

Basel
Switzerland
Glaubenswelten des Mittelalters. © Historisches Museum Basel, Foto: Natascha Jansen
Glaubenswelten des Mittelalters. © Historisches Museum Basel, Foto: Natascha Jansen
Glaubenswelten des Mittelalters. © Historisches Museum Basel, Foto: Natascha Jansen
History and tradition
The Basel Historical Museum with its three sites is widely regarded as the most important museum of cultural history on the Upper Rhine. It collects, conserves, records and researches objects and artefacts of relevance to our cultural heritage for future generations, tells visitors the story of Basel, and is a place for discourse and engagement with both present and future.
The Basel Historical Museum, housed in the Barfüsserkirche since 1894, shows selected aspects of the history of Basel from prehistoric times to the present. The focus of the exhibits from the pre-Reformation period is on sacred works of art such as the Basel Dance of Death and Basel Cathedral Treasury. The exhibition in the basement, headed “Understanding the World”, comprises a magnificent array of medieval tapestries with their fantasy worlds and scenes of real life, the Renaissance and Baroque collections, now grouped together in one “Great Cabinet of Curiosities”, and Basel’s rich archaeological heritage. Among the other highlights are the coin cabinet and the Burgundian Booty.

47.554526, 7.589333

Address

Basel Historical Museum – Barfüsserkirche

Barfüsserplatz 7
4051
Basel
Switzerland
Opening hours
Open all year from
Tuesday - Sunday: 10:00-17:00

Closed on
Contact and additional information
+41 61 205 86 00

Currently and upcoming

HMB
Event

In Basel, we literally stand on our past. How did Basel develop from a Celtic town to a bishop's see? We look at precious burial objects, jewelry, tableware, tools and settlement models.

HMB
Event

Old methods, new research. Some therapies that were used many decades ago but have since been rejected are now being used again in a new form. What are the benefits of electroconvulsive therapy or the ...

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Event

Deposits are objects that a museum has received on permanent loan or that are on loan. What motivates private individuals and institutions to make these permanent loans and what do museums gain from ...

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Event

The second Wednesday matinee in the exhibition "verrückt normal - Geschichte der Psychiatrie in Basel" is dedicated to a famous psychological test procedure: the Rorschach test developed by Swiss ...

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Where were mentally ill people cared for and treated in Basel? Were they interned for life? What medication was available around 1900 and how did the psychiatric nursing staff work? These and other ...

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Coveted, missing, bought - the history of a Minnekästchen in the collection of the Historical Museum Using a medieval wooden casket as an example, provenance researcher Renato Moser, curator Bettina ...

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A Sunday with offers and activities in and around the exhibition. Ask what you want - experts, peers and those affected will be present to provide information. Short guided tours, city tour, film ...

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Event

The tapestries created in Basel in the 15th century are among the collection's greatest treasures. The colorful depictions of social gatherings and minnesque scenes, mythical creatures and wild people ...

HMB
Event

Basel was a distinctly guild town. Until 1798, the guilds provided the government in Basel.

HMB
Event

A quartet of professional percussionists and multi-instrumentalists play a concert with the instruments from the "Upcycling Music" collection, creating breathtaking musical highlights. The music is ...

Terrace in front of a women's pavilion in the «Friedmatt», around 1930, photo archive UPK
Exhibition
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The exhibition tells the story of psychiatry over the last 150 years. It provides an insight into patient histories from the Basel clinic and shows the changes in diagnoses and therapy methods. And ...

Medieval Worlds of Faith
Exhibition
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Showcased here will be medieval works of art from churches in Switzerland and on the Upper Rhine. The impressive sculptures attesting to the veneration of saints are a reminder of how society was ...

Zeitsprünge – Basler Geschichte in Kürze
Exhibition
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Around 200,000 people from 200 nations live in Basel. The city forms the centre of a large tri-national region with a long history. The ‘Zeitsprünge’ exhibition offers highlights of the events and ...