Basel Attractions

The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the largest and most significant public art collection in Switzerland, and is listed as a heritage site of national significance. ts lineage extends back to the Amerbach Cabinet purchased by the city of Basel in 1661, which made it the first municipally owned museum. Its collection is distinguished by an impressively wide historic span, from the early 15th century up to the immediate present. Its various areas of emphasis give it international standing as one of the most significant museums of its kind. These encompass: paintings and drawings by artists active in the Upper Rhine region between 1400 and 1600 and on the art of the 19th to 21st centuries. The Kunstmuseum possesses the largest collection of works by the Holbein family. Further examples of Renaissance art include important pieces by such masters as Konrad Witz, Hans Baldung (called Grien),...

Zoo Basel is a non-profit zoo located within the city of Basel, Switzerland. Its official name is Zoologischer Garten Basel — or in English: Basel Zoological Garden. Basel residents, however, call their zoo affectionately Zolli. Its main entrance is just outside of Basel's downtown strip of Steinen and extends in the Birsig stream valley to Basel's city border with Binningen, Basel-Country. Zoo Basel is Switzerland's oldest (1874) and largest zoo (by number of animals). It is a major tourist attraction with nearly 1.7 million visitors per year, making it the most visited paid tourist attraction in Switzerland. Zoo Basel was ranked as one of the fifteen best zoos in the world by Forbes Travel in 2008, and in 2009 as the seventh best in Europe by Anthony Sheridan from the Zoological Society of London. The zoo had the first Indian rhinoceros birth in a zoo, as well as th...

The Beyeler Foundation or Fondation Beyeler with its museum in Riehen near Basel owns and oversees the art collection of Hildy and Ernst Beyeler that was built up by the couple over five decades and placed under the aegis of the foundation in 1982. The collection was first publicly exhibited in its entirety at the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid in 1989. By building Renzo Piano's museum structure in 1997, the Beyeler Foundation made its collection permanently accessible to the public. Some 200 works of classic modernism reflect the views of Hildy and Ernst Beyeler on 20th-century art and highlight features typical of the period from Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh to Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Francis Bacon. The paintings appear alongside some 25 objects of tribal art from Africa, Oceania and Alaska. A third of the ...

The Museum Tinguely is an art museum in Basel, Switzerland that contains a permanent exhibition of the works of Swiss painter and sculptor Jean Tinguely. Located in Solitude Park by the Rhine, the museum was designed by the Ticinese architect Mario Botta and opened on 3 October 1996. A variety of Tinguely's kinetic art sculptures are on permanent display, complemented with illustrations, photographs and other documents related to the artist's life and work. The museum's temporary exhibitions show works from Tinguely's friends and contemporaries, as well as other modern artists.

The Schaulager is a museum in Newmünchenstein, a sub-district of Münchenstein in the canton of Basel-Country, Switzerland. Built in 2002/2003 under commission of the Laurenz Foundation, is was designed by the renowned architectural office of Herzog & de Meuron, the Schaulager opened in 2003. The Schaulager was conceived as an open warehouse that provides the optimal spatial and climatic conditions for the preservation of works of art. The institution functions as a mix between public museum, art storage facility and art research institute. It is primarily directed at a specialist audience but is also open to the general public for special events and the annual exhibitions. The special annual exhibitions to date are: 2003: Roth-Zeit. A retrospective on Dieter Roth 2004: Herzog & de Meuron. Number 250. An exposition 2005: Jeff Wall. Photographs...

Since opening in 1872, Kunsthalle Basel has examined various positions concerning contemporary art. This renowned exhibition space in the Swiss City Basel can has a very long tradition of supporting the avant-garde and expanding the accepted boundaries of contemporary art. Contemporary art issues are also reflected in dialogue through lectures, performances and video and film projects. The historic building was up-dated in 2004 by the architects Miller & Maranta and has since also housed the Swiss Architecture Museum.

The Museum of Cultures is a Swiss museum of ethnography with large and important collections of artifacts, especially from Europe, the South Pacific, Mesoamerica, Tibet, and Bali. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

The Basel Museum of Ancient Art and Ludwig Collection is one of the many museums in the Swiss city of Basel and a heritage site of national significance. The museum is devoted exclusively to the art of ancient civilizations from the 4th millennium BC to the 7th century AD. The only one of its kind in Switzerland, the museum shows works of art from the Mediterranean region, predominantly from the period from 1000 BC to 300 AD. A central position is occupied by the collection of Greek vases and sculptures and the Ancient Egyptian section. Further objects are from the Near East and Cyprus.

The Dollhouse Museum in Basel is the largest museum of its kind in Europe. The museum is located at Barfüsserplatz in the city center. The museum displays over 6,000 exhibits (teddy bears, dolls, play shops, dollhouses and miniatures) in arranged vignettes. It also regularly organizes special exhibitions on individual themes. In particular, the teddy bear collection is unique the world over in terms of variety and quality.