FROM THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES TO THE ANCIEN RÉGIME

Taking up approximately 1200 m2 the exhibition gives an overview of the history of the city and republic of Bern using important exhibits. The objects documenting the period between about 400 and about 1700 are displayed throughout 16 rooms. Some 500 exhibits with many different provenances include paintings, sculptures, furniture, weapons, items of everyday use and textiles, all bearing witness to past living environments. 

Immerse yourself in the history of Bern and follow it on a journey that led from a rural settlement at the time of its found- ing to the mightiest municipal republic north of the Alps. 

GLORY AND DECLINE OF THE ANCIEN RÉGIME

The exhibition takes up approximately 330 m2 and focuses on 18th and 19th century Bern. Unique objects tell us about the golden age of the educated and gallant citizens of Bern. However, they also show the decline of the Ancien Régime and the struggle for a new constitution. Some 300 exhibits including written documents, musical instruments, porcelain figurines and costumes bring the era back to life.

Discover Bern‘s golden age and learn of the relationships between power, know- ledge, upheaval and awakening at the time of the Helvetic Revolution.

CAPTURED TREASURE – COURT ART IN BERN (1250–1520)

The exhibition, extending over some 360 m2, features works that arrived here as a result of Bern’s successful military campaigns and territorial expansion in the 15th and early 16th centuries.The top quality materials used in these items, their technical sophistication and their often unusual aesthetics set them apart from anything known or produced in Bern at that time.

Let yourself be dazzled by the magnificence of our star pieces, and plunge

into the luxurious world of late medieval princes.

FRAGILE TREASURE – CONSERVING COURT TEXTILES (2012– )

To have textiles permanently on display at a Museum is a great challenge. Before we bring our Caesar tapestries back into an exhibition for instance, it is essential to inspect and document their current condition. After that, measures to con- serve them will be decided on. For this purpose a temporary workshop, measur- ing about 190 m2, has been set up.

Look over the shoulders of our textile conservators as they work, and see just how 15th century tapestries are preserved for future generations.

BERN‘S SILVER TREASURE

Taking up some 30 m2 the exhibition presents approximately 90 gold and silver works of art dating from the 16th to 18th centuries. The goblets, figurative drinking vessels and testimonials from the Renaissance and Baroque periods offer an account of important events in the political, social and economic life of Bern.

Marvel at the splendour and magnificence of Bern‘s silver treasure and let yourself be enthralled by the imaginative and detailed craftsmanship.

BERN AND THE 20TH CENTURY

Taking up approximately 580 m2 the exhibition relates Bern‘s journey to modernity from 1900 to 2001 in the form of a time bar. Each year is represented by an event or pioneering feat, which makes the zeitgeist of that particular time more tangible. Some 200 original objects and numerous replicas give visitors an insight into a wide range of topics which include everything from politics to the economy, society, sports, technology, science, everyday life, and art and design.

Tell your children and grandchildren stories about the days of your wild youth and discover a creative and surprising side to Bern.

STONE AGE, CELTS AND ROMANS

Taking up approximately 360 m2 the exhibition uses archaeological finds to display 50,000 years of human history. 1,500 original finds offer an account of the Early and Late Stone Ages, the Bronze Age, the pile dwellers, the Iron Age, the Celts, the Romans and the Early Middle Ages.

Experience firsthand the development and transformation of the first humans in this region. Whether child or adult, you learn that there can be no future without a past.

TREASURES FROM THE TOMBS OF ANCIENT EGYPT

Taking up some 40 m2 the exhibition introduces the mortuary cult and concepts of the afterlife that prevailed in ancient Egypt. Approximately 110 objects from the period between 3000 and 30 BC outline the cultural history of the 30 dynasties of pharaohs.

Travel to the empire of the pharaohs and learn more about their mortuary rituals. Discover a culture whose pyramids, hieroglyphs and mummies still fascinate today.

ORIENTAL COLLECTION HENRI MOSER

Taking up approximately 330 m2 the exhibition offers information on Central Asia, Persia and the Ottoman Empire. The earliest of the 130 exhibits dates from the 4th century BC, the latest from the 20th century AD. Lacquer works, silverware, weapons, religious objects, water pipes, incense burners and scientific instruments paint a varied picture of the Orient.

Let yourself be transported to the fairytale world of The Thousand and One Nights and discover the diverse world of Islam.

Placed in out-of-home care, put to work, placed in guardianship, housed in institutions: by around the 1970s, several hundred thousand children, adolescents and adults in Switzerland had been subjected to compulsory welfare measures and fostering. In the Canton of Bern they numbered at least fifty thousand. Many came from difficult social or economic backgrounds. If a family did not conform to middle-class norms, the authorities reacted with repressive measures that violated personal rights.

For some years now, the people who suffered have been becoming increasingly vocal. They report what they have undergone and demand that the long-term impact be accounted for and mitigated. The fact that they were wronged is now officially recognised. In 2011, the Canton Government of Bern issued an apology.

The exhibition focuses on five victims born between 1894 and 1963 and invites visitors to immerse themselves in their stories. Finally, the question arises: how does what happened affect us today?

During the summer heatwave in 2003, the glacier on the Schnidejoch pass in the Bernese Oberland revealed a secret that had been kept for millennia: a Neolithic bow case made of birch cork (bark). It was a sensational find that remains unique to this day. By 2005, further parts of the bow equipment had been uncovered.

However, the case was returned straight back to the ice: it was kept in its frozen state for the time being, because little was known about how to dry birch cork. 20 years later, this could be successfully performed and the equipment belonging to “Schnidi”, the Swiss Ötzi, is now on show for the first time in its thawed and preserved state.

The polar regions have long held a powerful attraction for the Swiss. Be it through scientific research, literature or tourism, our connection to “permanent ice” has always been one of fascination and longing. This is also apparent in our museum collection: in the early 20th century, Switzerland was among the countries that sent expedition teams to Greenland, which was a Danish colony. These teams brought back numerous items, which now make up the Bern History Museum’s “Greenland collection”. This collection raises various questions. 

Where does our fascination for the polar world come from? Why does the Bern History Museum have a Greenland collection? What can this collection actually teach us about Greenland? What is the future of ethnographic museums and their collections?  And what does “indigeneity” mean today? 

These questions will guide visitors on their tour of the exhibition and will also be central to the accompanying events. In our exchanges with experts and our audience we will seek to gather new and multifaceted perspectives on the colonial legacy of this collection. The contents and insight gained from these events will be fed back into the exhibition. In this way, it will be in a state of constant flux, will enable us to gain new insight and will reappraise how Switzerland views Greenland. 

Greenland x Greenland: Your ticket also gives you free admission to the exhibition “Greenland. Everything changes” at ALPS, the Swiss Alpine Museum! 

Murten, 22 June 1476: The Swiss Confederates and their allies dealt the troops of the Burgundian Duke Charles the Bold a surprising defeat in battle.

Around 400 years later, the Zurich Panorama Society wowed the crowds with the Murten Panorama – a monumental painting 100 metres long and 10 metres tall. In 2002, the panorama was staged most impressively in a cube on Lake Murten for the Expo.02 national exposition. 

This new exhibition takes a fresh look at an event that is deeply rooted in the collective memory of Bern and Switzerland. How is history turned into a fascinating mise-en-scene? What interests drive it and who benefits?  

A highlight has been created with the new look given to the panorama: under the direction of Professor Sarah Kenderdine, the Laboratory of Experimental Museology at EPFL has created the world's largest digital image and is presenting the work to the public for the first time as an immersive experience. 

Image credits: EPFL – eM+, 2023

Accompany Albert Einstein on his life's journey and learn about the brilliant physicist in all his facets.

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) was living in Bern when his theory of relativity turned our perceptions of space and time upside down. As part of the Bernisches Historisches Museum, approximately 1000m² of exhibition space in the Einstein Museum offer an account of the life of the physicist. Some 550 original objects and replicas, 70 films and numerous animations outline the biography of the genius and his ground-breaking discoveries, while at the same time illustrating the history of his time.

Both private and professional aspects of Einstein's life are dealt with and show the person behind the genius. Romantic relationships and dramas are covered, as is the fascinating world of the 1920s. Other central themes include the horror of the Holocaust and the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima.

An audio guide in nine languages, inductive headphones and a video guide for the deaf and hearing-impaired (available in Swiss German only) make the Einstein Museum accessible to a wider audience from all parts of the world.