Swiss Alpine Museum

The Alpine Museum of Switzerland is a museum that deals with the relationship between mountains and people, culture and nature in the Alps. The house is located at Helvetia in Bern.

It takes care of cultural and scientific questions in the Alps. The Museum maintains an important collection with a focus on Mountain Photography ( more than 220,000 photos), cartography and alpinism. The Alpine Museum houses one of the largest collections of mountain relief. It imparts his knowledge regularly in exhibitions, publications and events.

The museum was opened in 1905 in the town hall of Foreign Affairs prior to the armory alley in Bern, after 1902, the Bern section of the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC ) took the initiative and had commissioned a Museum Commission with the implementation. Idea and purpose of the museum corresponded to the concerns of the SAC to open up the Alps not only for climbers, but also to explore. 1933-1934 the museum building at Helvetia Square was built in the Bernese church field headquarters. The house stands today as an example of the new building under monument protection. 1990 to 1993, the museum was rebuilt and refurbished. There was a permanent exhibition space on two floors and one floor for ever-changing special exhibitions. All eight to ten months was again in this way a new issue around the Alps and the Alpine space for debate. Particularly noteworthy are free the successful exhibitions " Glaciers in the Greenhouse " and " room. Alps hotels between demolition and new beginnings. "

From September 2011 to March 2012, the museum was rebuilt again and reopened with a new concept and present -focused approach. The permanent exhibition has to take place on two floors ( 700 m²) made ​​large special place. Also new to the concept is the exhibition area " bivouac ", the " speedboat " big " museum steamer " take place in the experimental small exhibitions with faster change. The museum, which has changed its name to the Switzerland Alpine Museum, is a platform for Alpine and mountain themes. The different approaches and points of view are on the subject, which are repeatedly re-plumbed, in the foreground, because not only natural historical and geographical questions come to mind, but also cultural, social, art-related and especially contemporary -oriented views and sensibilities must and will be discussed.

Part of the museum is also the " read alps » restaurant serving specialties from the Alpine arc, and a newly designed museum shop since March 2012.

Winner of the Alpine Museum is the foundation Swiss Alpine Museum, which was founded in 1933. Donors are the Swiss Confederation, the Canton of Bern, the city of Bern, the Swiss Alpine Club SAC and the Bern section of the SAC.