Museums in Basel
The Basel museums encompass a series of
Constituting an essential and defining component of Basel culture and cultural policy, the museums are the result of closely interwoven private and public collecting activities and promotion of arts and culture going back to the 16th century. The public museums of the canton of
Museum landscape
The main focus of collecting among Basel museums is the
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Kunstmuseum Basel; painting and drawing by Upper Rhine artists of the 14th to 16th centuries, art of the 19th and 20th centuries
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Basel Museum of Ancient Art and Ludwig Collection; ancient art and culture from the Mediterranean region
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Museum of Contemporary Art and Media Art; [plug.in]; contemporary and avant-garde art from the 1960s up to the present
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Beyeler Foundation; classical modern art of the 20th century
Numerous museums address various themes of
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Basel Museum of Cultures; European and non-European ethnology (Tibet, Bali, South Seas, Ancient America)
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Swiss Paper Museum – Basel Paper Mill; paper production and the culture of writing
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Natural History Museum Basel; zoology, entomology, mineralogy, anthropology, osteology and paleontology
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S AM Swiss Architecture Museum in Kunsthalle Basel; international architecture and contemporary urban design
With the city's position at the junction of the "
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Museum am Burghof in Lörrach; history of the Three-Countries Region up to the present
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Toy Museum and Village and Wine Cultivation Museum in Riehen; toys, village life and wine growing
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Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein; furniture design and architecture
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Roman House in Augusta Raurica; finds from the Roman town and archaeological park
With the increasing aestheticization of everyday life, the architecture of museums has taken on special significance since the 1980s. A striking number of exhibition structures have incorporated a vocabulary of
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Schaulager (architects: Herzog & de Meuron); Emmanuel Hoffmann Foundation
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Tinguely Museum(architect: Mario Botta); Jean Tinguely and contemporaries
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Dollhouse Museum at Barfüsserplatz; dolls, teddy bears, miniatures
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Historical Museum Basel – Barfüsser Church; cultural history of the city of Basel and the Upper Rhine
The museums are a central aspect of Basel's touristic appeal and hence an important economic factor. A number of Basel's museums are
Development of the museums
Museums in the city
Early collections
The origins of the first public collection are closely linked to the University of Basel and the early modern era collections of books, art and natural curiosities, of which there were quite a few in Basel. Prominent among them, the Amerbach printer family (founded by Johann Amerbach) had collected a substantial number of books, paintings, goldsmith works, coins and natural objects during the 16th century. In 1661, the Amerbach Cabinet was on the verge of being disbanded following a purchase offer from Amsterdam, then the European center for the trade in collector's items. At the urging of the mayor Johann Rudolf Wettstein, the city and university decided to jointly purchase the collection in order to keep it in Basel. Installed in the Haus zur Mücke just off Cathedral Square in 1671, the collection did not operate like a museum. It principally served as a library for university scholars, with only a few parlors on the first floor reserved for works of art and natural objects. Two librarians were in charge of administering the overall collection.[5]
Beginning in the late 18th century, Basel saw an acceleration in the growth of collections of books and objects inspired by Enlightenment-era ideals of education and refinement. Significant holdings of antiquities, coins, fossils and natural curiosities made their way into the Haus zur Mücke through purchases, gifts or bequests by private collectors. An especially important addition came in 1823 with the contents of the Museum Faesch, a Basel collection from the 17th century. The first coherent ethnological collection was formed from the "Mexican cabinet" that had been assembled by the merchant Lukas Vischer from 1828 to 1837 during his travels in Central America. In 1821, the natural objects and artifacts were separated out from the collections in the Haus zur Mücke and an independent museum of natural history was established at the Falkensteiner Hof, likewise located right off Cathedral Square, which also included the instrument cabinets of the physics and chemistry institutes.[6]
The city's official repository for art was the
First museum building
In 1767, the university professor
The need for space was resolved in 1849 with the removal of the collection to the multi-purpose building by Melchior Berri on Augustinergasse – simply named the "Museum" – on the site of the former Augustinian monastery. It was financed with a one-time contribution from the canton along with citizen donations. The late classicistic monumental edifice with decorative painting and frescoes by Arnold Böcklin is a comparatively early example of a civic museum and the first major museum in Basel. While taking clear inspiration from Karl Friedrich Schinkel and his Academy of Architecture in Berlin, the allocation of spaces and functions here combined university facilities with a library and natural history and art collections.[10] This also served the institutional requirements of the university. Further examples of collections could be found in most of the subsidiary institutes – i.e., facilities with demonstration objects for instruction and research purposes. These included the instruments of the chemistry and physics institutes and the utensils of the anatomical institute.
Division of the public collections into state museums
Parallel to the specialization of the educational and research disciplines that took hold at the beginning of the 19th century, Basel's wide-ranging holdings of objects evolved into institutional collections divided according to various scientific fields. They were very different from the cabinets of curiosities that, according to the Basel professor Wilhelm Wackernagel, had merely involved "[mindless grabbing] at curiosities with a half-pedantic, half-childish zeal".
In 1892, the "antiquarian collection" (small artifacts of antiquity, excluding ethnological objects) was joined with the medieval collection of the Basel Cathedral and historical weapons from the Basel Armory to form the
The public art collection was installed in the upper story of the Museum on Augustinergasse in 1849. Its continuing growth led to increasing spatial demands that could not be met at that location. In 1936, after a planning period of roughly three decades, the art collection moved into the Kunstmuseum Basel. Satellite locations had already been established in 1922 at the Augustinerhof on Augustinergasse (collection of prints and drawings) and at the Bachofenhaus on Cathedral Square (Bachofen Collection with additional holdings). The greater part of the art collection was temporarily housed in the Kunsthalle from 1928 until 1936.[15] The Kunstmuseum's gallery of paintings and collection of prints and drawings comprise the largest and most significant public art collection in Switzerland. With an emphasis on paintings and drawings by artists of the Upper Rhine from 1400 to 1600 (Holbein family, Witz, Cranach the Elder, Grünewald) and art of the 19th to 21st centuries (Böcklin, van Gogh, Cézanne, Gauguin, Cubism with Picasso and Braque, German Expressionism, postwar American art), it also ranks as one of the leading international museums of its kind. Since the removal of the art collection to new quarters, the Museum on Augustinergasse has served as the exclusive domain of the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Cultures/Museum of Ethnology (Völkerkundemuseum/Museum der Kulturen). A major expansion of the public museum collections occurred in 1961 with the founding of the Basel Museum of Ancient Art and Ludwig Collection (Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig). This new institution combined previous holdings from the Historical Museum (small artifacts of antiquity) and Kunstmuseum (sculptures) with acquisitions from private collections, which are displayed in two neoclassical villas located opposite the Kunstmuseum. The Museum of Ancient Art opened in the first villa in 1966 and expanded into the adjacent structure, also built by architect Melchior Berri, in 1988. It is the only Swiss museum devoted exclusively to the art of the Mediterranean area (mainly Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek, Italic and Roman cultures, as well as Levante and the Near East) from the 4th millennium B.C. to the 7th century A.D. The collections of Greek vases, Antique sculptures and Ancient Egyptian artifacts occupy a central position within its holdings.[16]
Satellite locations of the state museums
The growing spatial needs of the collections that were housed in the Museum on Augustinergasse led to the incorporation of neighboring buildings. Similarly, the other museums also expanded. The Historical Museum in Barfüsser Church acquired the following satellite locations: the Museum of Domestic Life (Wohnmuseum) in the Segerhof (1926–34) and its successor in the Haus zum Kirschgarten since 1951, the Museum of Domestic Culture in Basel (Museum der Basler Wohnkultur); the Museum of Music (Musikmuseum), featuring five centuries of European musical history based on the musical instrument collection founded in 1943, which has been displayed since 2000 in the former prison Lohnhof; the carriage and sleigh collection in Brüglingen, established in 1981.[17] Replica casts of ancient sculptures that were originally on display in the Sculpture Hall (Skulpturenhalle), but moved into storage in 1927 due to a lack of public interest, became part of the Museum of Ancient Art (Antikenmuseum) in 1961 and again received their own exhibition space in 1963 in the new Basel Sculpture Hall (Skulpturhalle Basel). It features the world's only complete reconstruction of architectural sculpture from the Parthenon in Athens.[18] The Public Art Collection (Öffentliche Kunstsammlung) also expanded into a second building in 1981 with the Museum of Contemporary Art (Museum für Gegenwartskunst) in St. Alban-Tal. As the first public exhibition building project in Europe, it is devoted exclusively to the presentation of contemporary works and artistic production since 1960. In addition to classic media such as painting and sculpture, its acquisitions also include video art.
Defunct and semi-public museums
The Museum of
The Swiss Firefighting Museum (Schweizerisches Feuerwehrmuseum), founded in 1957 as the Basel Firefighting Museum, is housed on the premises of the cantonal Fire Brigade but does not have the status of a public museum and is not administered by the canton. Its collection, which includes permanent loans from the Historical Museum, features documents that date back to the 13th century.[20] The Hörnli Cemetery Collection (Sammlung Friedhof Hörnli) operates under similar conditions: It has been located on the property of the canton's Central Cemetery since 1994 but is funded and run by a private association. On display are burial objects such as urns, documents on the history of cremation, hearses, coffins, cemetery regulations, graveyard crosses, glass pearl chains and memorial keepsakes.
Additional museums
The first museum that was not supported and administered by the canton of Basel-City was established in 1860 in a large room at the
The
Like the Kleines Klingental Museum, the Klingental Exhibition Gallery (Ausstellungsraum Klingental) is located in the building complex of the former Klingental convent. Opened in 1974, the gallery serves as a presentation platform for the current work of artists living in Basel and aims to support emerging artistic talents. It is sponsored by the Klingental Gallery Society (Verein Ausstellungsraum Klingental). The
Opened in 1996, the
Museums in surrounding communities
Many of the small and mid-sized municipalities around Basel have museums of local history and culture[28] that are not presented in the following. Mention is given to institutions whose scope extends beyond the local level and which are generally open to the public several days a week.
Collections of natural, cultural and technological history
The oldest museum in the Basel region outside the city is the Museum of Canton
Opened in 1957, the
Opened to the public in 1972, the
Emphasis on art collections
Since the late 1980s, the Basel region has seen a proliferation of new museums addressing themes of art and design, especially concerning works from more recent years. The
With the creation of the Basel-Country Art Museum (Kunsthaus Baselland) in Muttenz, the Basel-Country Art Association (Kunstverein Baselland) was given its own dedicated exhibition building in 1997. The Art Museum is devoted to contemporary art and presents temporary exhibitions of current projects by regional and international artists.[33] Opened in 1998, Riehen Art Space (Kunst Raum Riehen) is another public institution with a similar thematic orientation. It serves the municipality of Riehen and its art commission with exhibitions of contemporary works of art from the region.[34] Established in 2001, the Sculpture at Schoenthal Foundation in the former Schönthal monastery presents over twenty works by international and Swiss artists in a permanently accessible sculpture park under the motto “Art and Nature in Dialogue”. A Romanesque-era church has been converted into a gallery for temporary exhibitions of contemporary artists.[35] In 2003, the Schaulager (or “viewing warehouse”) of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation was opened in Münchenstein. Centered on the avant-garde art collection of the foundation, the institute functions as a mix between public museum, art storage facility and art research institute. The polygonal building is a design by the architects Herzog & de Meuron. The Fernet Branca Contemporary Art Space (Espace d’Art Contemporain Fernet Branca) in Saint-Louis, the Alsatian town just across the border from Basel, is located in the former Fernet-Branca spirits distillery that was decommissioned in 2000. Since 2004, the museum has presented temporary exhibitions on contemporary art themes and artists. The museum's operations are supported by the Association for the Fernet Branca Contemporary Art Museum (Association pour le Musée d’Art Contemporain Fernet Branca).[36]
Museum promotion and museum policy
Primacy of the library
Many museums can be traced back to courtly collections – at least in terms of the original set of holdings. Since the 19th century, in contrast, Basel has embraced a culture of remembrance of having created the oldest existing civic museum collection through its purchase of the Amerbach Cabinet in the year 1661.[37] The acquisition of a collection from the 16th century fits with the historical and documentary interest in art that was prevalent at the time. In fact, however, the purchase was chiefly prompted by a desire to enhance the university's inventory of books with the extensive book holdings of the Amerbach Cabinet.[38] The Haus zur Mücke community hall that housed the university-administered collection was called the “Library” in recognition of its primary function. The role as the city's art repository did not shift from the Basel Town Hall (Rathaus) to the Haus zur Mücke until the latter half of the 18th century. The Passion Altarpiece by Holbein that had been one of the main visitor attractions since the Reformation was moved over in 1770, followed by several additional paintings from the town council's inventories in 1771 and Holbein's organ doors from the Cathedral in 1786.[39] Despite this weighting of the collections, the official legal status remained unchanged for quite some time. The natural history holdings and art collection were not split off from the library until 1821 and 1836, respectively.
At the end of the 18th century, civic museum culture was still in the early stages of its development, as illustrated by the very limited opening hours of the Haus zur Mücke (Thursday afternoon from two to four in the afternoon, otherwise on request[40]). The first records of regular gallery visits by city residents and outside visitors date to this period. In the three centuries before and after 1800, most of the collection activities involved objects of natural history, with a substantial number of acquisitions and gifts in this area. The numerous top-level art objects that made their way to Basel in the 1790s from Revolutionary France, on the other hand, did not find a wide audience of buyers and in most cases were resold.[41]
Transfer to the state and popular education
For the republican and monarchical civic states of the 19th century, collections in the form of public museums became emblems of self-determination. The carting off of large numbers of artworks to Paris during the Napoleonic Wars had created an awareness of the identity-shaping power of art. Institutional role models were the “Musée français” in the Louvre and the “Musée des monuments français” in a former Augustinian convent, which closed in 1816. The maintenance of programmatic museum collections and the construction of museum buildings became one of the most prominent and defining national functions.[42]
In the case of Basel, however, it was the increasing need for space in the Haus zur Mücke that prompted deliberations regarding construction of a new building. The discussion concerning the right location for the public collection took on a political dimension following the division of the canton into city and regional sections. The University Act (Universitätsgesetz) of 1818 had made the corporatively autonomous university a cantonal educational establishment, with the university holdings thus owned indirectly by the state. According to the arbitral decision governing the cantonal split, two-thirds of the university's collection belonged to the regional canton and had to be purchased by the city canton. The ensuing consternation in the city led to the Administration and Use of University Holdings Act (Gesetz über Verwaltung und Verwendung des Universitätsgutes) of 1836 that such goods were indissolubly tied to the locality of the city of Basel for the purposes of education. This provision has remained in effect to the present day.[43][44]
These occurrences led to the founding of the Voluntary Academic Society of Basel (Freiwillige Akademische Gesellschaft) in 1835, which began supporting the collections in financial terms and through purchases and gifts as part of its general promotion of the university. Yet the greatest momentum for the museum building came from natural science circles centered on the physics and chemistry professor Peter Merian, who was likely responsible for securing a dedicated annual budget for the Natural History Museum – the only state collection with this distinction. A combination of academic institution, library and laboratories, the establishment of the Natural History Museum at the Falkensteiner Hof also provided a model for the museum building. The fact that a primary museum building was ultimately created instead of a university-affiliated building was due to the university's poor standing among wide sections of the merchant and industrialist classes. In these sectors, the university was considered a backward-looking institution. The museum, by contrast, was seen as a driving force for practical popular education and the community was willing to support its construction with private contributions as part of a wider process of renewal in the city.[45][46]
At the instigation of Christian Friedrich Schönbein, the Voluntary Museum Association of Basel (Freiwilliger Museumsverein) was initiated in 1850 as the successor to an earlier association founded in 1841 for the construction of the museum. Modelled after the Royal Institution in London, it was established to “stimulate the appreciation of science and art”.[47] Open to all residents of Basel, the association promoted the collections with financial means and sought to generate interest in the museum through public lectures to which women were also admitted. It was unable to sustain the initial enthusiasm, however, and experienced losses in membership despite Basel's rapid population growth in the latter half of the century. The museum did not embrace the function of popular education that had been promoted by its founders and supporters. The ideational socialization role of the museum was very slow to proceed, with the museum long holding onto former organizational structures. The art collection furthermore did not get an academically trained conservator until 1887. In addition, the renewed University Act of 1866 discontinued regular state appropriations for the antiquarian, medieval and art collections and left them dependent on proceeds from entry fees and the support of associations and private individuals, the most significant of these being the Birrmann Foundation and the Emilie Linder Foundation on behalf of the art collection. It was this support that enabled an active collection policy that went beyond the receipt of inherited cultural assets.[48]
Civic culture of remembrance and modernism
From the outset, the museum authorities charged the collections with a federal mission, wanting them to exert a “beneficial and salutary influence on the entire Fatherland”.[49] The “unofficial national gallery”[50] grew over time, primarily through acquisitions of Swiss works of art. When negotiations got underway in 1883 regarding the establishment of a federal museum, the canton of Basel-City sought to be chosen as the location for the new institution and proposed its collections of cultural history as the nucleus of the museum, systematically expanding them in light of its candidacy. While the Swiss National Museum (Schweizerisches Landesmuseum) ended up in Zurich, plans were nevertheless realized for a history museum that was no longer generally Swiss but specifically related to Basel, located in the historic former Barfüsser Church from the High Gothic period. The establishment of the Historical Museum “was a self-assured display of Basel’s art-mindedness and craftsmanship, a mix of educational corridor and enfilade of stalls”.[51] The transfer of the Museum of Applied Arts (Gewerbemuseum) to the state a few years earlier as an arena of contemporary achievements can likewise be seen under the aspect of civic pride and reinvented sense of commonality in which the citizenry understood its ideals and capabilities as a foundation of state and society.
While the collections had clearly established their international standing, this appreciation did not become rooted in the cultural awareness of a broader range of social classes until the end of the 19th century. The historic culture of remembrance that was growing in importance and impact at the time was strongly linked with the medieval collection and the many Late Medieval and Renaissance works of the Upper Rhine in the Kunstmuseum. In the years since, Basel has also cultivated its claim of possessing the oldest municipal art collection in continuous existence through its acquisition of the Amerbach Cabinet.[52] On the occasion of two major public celebrations in 1892 (500th anniversary of Greater Basel's acquisition of Lesser Basel) and 1901 (Basel's 400th anniversary as part of the Swiss Confederation), Basel presented the civically minded portion of the population (and hence the base of support for the museums) with a series of identity-shaping historical and patriotic gestures that borrowed from the store of images from the past available in the museums.
[[File:Franz Marc-The Fate of the Animals-1913.jpg|thumb|Franz Marc: Animal Destinies, 1913. The painting was offered by the German Reich in 1939 as “degenerate art” and purchased by the city of Basel.]] With the epochal break of the
The establishment of classical modernism at the Kunstmuseum continued with ongoing acquisitions of postwar-era art, in particular with works by American artists. In Basel's claim to being a “Museum City”, the highly controversial and unsuccessful referendum against the purchase of two Picasso paintings in 1967 holds considerable importance and constitutes a key moment in Basel's culture of remembrance in regard to the fusing of society and museum.[56]
Democratization, popularization
Despite the affirmation by voters, traditional museums found themselves in a prolonged crisis beginning in the late 1960s. Not limited to Basel, this crisis originated in the profound sociopolitical reevaluation of culture of the era. The acquisitions of the State Art Credit and the 1967 Christmas exhibition at Kunsthalle Basel set off fierce protests among the loosely organized association of rejected artists, which became known as the Farnsburg Group (Farnsburgergruppe). Even the cantonal parliament got involved in addressing the concerns. The events raised the question of whether Basel was “just a museum city” – here meant in a derogatory sense – and prompted a broadly cast debate over the fostering of young artists and the functioning of the museums. The establishment of the Klingental Exhibition Gallery (Ausstellungsraum Klingental) several years later was a direct consequence of the shortcomings that had been identified.[57]
The democratization that took hold in the 1960s meant doing away with the elite in favor of the egalitarian, dispelling fears of the new and unknown. With a focus on the constructivist works of the 1960s associated with the “New Tendencies” (Nouvelles Tendances) movement, the short-lived Progressive Museum (1968–1974) set out to “establish a modern collection that would be accessible to the public from the very beginning” and wanted to avoid any sort of “secularized ceremony”.[58] The expansion of education and communication, likewise a mandate stemming from this era, could only be achieved through an increase in funding. Since the mid-1970s, however, increasingly tight budgets and persistent financial difficulties in the public sector have exerted a palpable impact on museums. The museum studies program at the University of Basel could only be offered from 1992 to 1994 due to funding shortages. In the mid-1990s, a government resolution cut the budget of the state museums by ten percent, leading to the 1996 closure of two museums, the Museum of Design (Museum für Gestaltung) and the City and Cathedral Museum (Stadt- und Münstermuseum).[59][60] The ensuing debate and the pressure from a public referendum in support of the city's museums led to the adoption of the Basel-City Museums Act (Museumsgesetz) of 1999, which placed the holdings of the remaining five state museums (Museum of Ancient Art, Historical Museum, Kunstmuseum, Museum of Cultures, Natural History Museum) in the hands of the parliament. As a central component of cultural expenditures,[61] the museums have also been included in the intensified negotiations over the past several years between the two Basel cantons regarding payment for the city-provided services within the framework of a fiscal equalization scheme.
Since the 1980s, the museums have experienced simultaneous trends toward popularization and aestheticization. The ensuing decades have been marked by a wave of new museum buildings whose avant-garde architecture has achieved international prominence. Contributing considerably to popularization was the exhibition concept of the Musée Sentimental, which focuses on the world of un-prosaic everyday culture and experience and led to a 1989 exhibition of the same name at the Museum of Design (Museum für Gestaltung). The annual Basel Museum Night tallies around a hundred thousand museum visits while the museums attract a total of approximately 1.4 million visitors throughout the year (as of 2006).[62] The general population credits the museums with “a leading role in providing leisure-time opportunities for education and learning”.[63] Museums operate in an environment that is increasingly subject to the conditions of both the leisure market and the free market, and are recognized as an important economic and locational factor.[64][65] In contrast to the state, the use of private funds in the museum field has grown considerably. Funding from patrons or sponsors plays an increasingly significant role in the financing of exhibitions, parts of collections or entire museums and is thus highly sought after. This competitive situation is further reflected in the considerable institutional autonomy of the Basel-City museums, which are the only governmental enterprises in the canton operating under the private-sector influenced method of New Public Management.[66]
Literature
- Birkner, Othmar; Rebsamen, Hanspeter (1986). INSA – Inventar der neueren Schweizer Architektur 1850–1920, Separatdruck Basel.
- Blome, Peter (1995). "Die Basler Museen und ihr Publikum." Basler Jahrbuch 1994, pp. 106–109.
- Bonjour, Edgar (1960). Die Universität Basel von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. 1460–1960. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel.
- Bruckner, A., ed. (1937). Basel. Stadt und Land. Ein aktueller Querschnitt. Benno Schwabe & Co Publishing, Basel, pp. 155–197.
- Historisches Museum Basel, pub. (1994). Historisches Museum Basel. Führer durch die Sammlungen. ISBN 1-85894-004-4.
- Huber, Dorothea (1993). Architekturführer Basel. Die Baugeschichte der Stadt und ihrer Umgebung. Architekturmuseum Basel, Basel. ISBN 3-905065-22-3.
- Kreis, Georg (1990). Entartete Kunst für Basel. Die Herausforderung von 1939. Wiese Publishing, Basel. ISBN 3-909158-31-5.
- Kreis, Georg; von Wartburg, Beat (2000). Basel. Geschichte einer städtischen Gesellschaft. Christoph Merian Publishing, Basel. ISBN 3-85616-127-9.
- Mathys, F. K. (1980). "Basels Schatzkammern. Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung unserer Museen." Basler Stadtbuch 1979, pp. 151–164.
- Meier, Nikolaus (1999). Identität und Differenz. Zum 150. Jahrestag der Eröffnung des Museums an der Augustinergasse in Basel. Offprint from volume 100 of the Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde.
- Monteil, Annemarie (1977). Basler Museen. Birkhäuser Publishing, Basel. ISBN 3-7643-0945-8.
- Nagel, Anne; Möhle, Martin; Meles, Brigitte (2006). Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Basel-Stadt, Bd. VII Die Altstadt von Grossbasel I – Profanbauten. Berne.
- Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel (1936). Festschrift zur Eröffnung des Kunstmuseums. Birkhäuser Publishing, Basel.
- Schneider-Sliwa, R.; Erismann, C.; Klöpper, C. (2005). "Museumsbesuche – Impulsgeber für die Wirtschaft in Basel." Basler Stadt- und Regionalforschung, Volume 28. Basel.
- Settelen-Trees, Daniela (1994). Historisches Museum Basel in der Barfüsserkirche 1894–1994. Basel. ISBN 3-9520458-2-9.
- Suter, Raphael (1996). "Die Schliessung zweier Museen stösst auf Widerstand." Basler Stadtbuch 1995, pp. 158–161.
- Teuteberg, René (1986). Basler Geschichte. Christoph Merian Publishing, Basel. ISBN 3-85616-034-5.
- von Roda, Burkard (1995). "Was Basel reich macht." Basler Jahrbuch 1994, pp. 112–115.
- Wirtz, Rainer (1995). "Die neuen Museen – zwischen Konkurrenz und Kompensation." Basler Jahrbuch 1994, pp. 100–105.
References
- ^ Especially in the case of the major cantonal museums in Basel-City: "The museums have the task of collecting, preserving, documenting, researching and communicating cultural assets." Museums Act (Museumsgesetz) from 16 June 1999, § 3.
- ^ See the overview of different territorial definitions and perimeters on the website of Eurodistrict Basel Archived 2007-10-28 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Map Archived 2009-02-25 at the Wayback Machine showing the area covered by the Upper Rhine Museum Pass.
- ^ "Up until now, the label 'Museum City of Basel' was primarily associated with the valuable collections and numerous special exhibitions of the public and private museums that are present here in a unique density." (Suter, Raphael (1995): "Ist das erste Museologie-Studium der Schweiz bereits am Ende?" Basler Jahrbuch 1994, p. 109.) "Cities with a comparable number of inhabitants typically possess an art gallery of regional significance at best. As a location for art museums, measured in terms of its size, Basel is unmatched." (Becker, Maria (2 June 2008): "Die kleine Stadt der grossen Kunstschiffe". Neue Zürcher Zeitung.)
- ^ Bonjour, Edgar (1960). Die Universität Basel 1460–1960. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel, pp. 320–322.
- ^ Mathys, F. K. (1980). "Basels Schatzkammern. Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung unserer Museen." Basler Stadtbuch 1979, pp. 151–164.
- ^ Kreis, Georg; von Wartburg, Beat (2000). Basel. Geschichte einer städtischen Gesellschaft. Christoph Merian Publishing, Basel, pp. 395–396.
- ^ Historisches Museum Basel (1994): Historisches Museum Basel. Führer durch die Sammlungen. Merrell Holberton, London, p. 87.
- ^ Publication commemorating the dedication of the museum in Basel on 26 November 1849. Basel 1849, p. 3.
- ^ Huber, Dorothea (1993). Architekturführer Basel. Die Baugeschichte der Stadt und ihrer Umgebung. Architekturmuseum Basel, Basel, pp. 112–114.
- ^ Wackernagel, Wilhelm (1857): Über die mittelalterliche Sammlung zu Basel. Basel, p. 3.
- ^ The Voluntary Museum Association of Basel (Freiwilliger Museumsverein) ended its support of the Bernoullianum in the 1870s, in contrast to the University Library, which remains a beneficiary of gifts and donations.
- ^ Bonjour, Edgar (1960). Die Universität Basel 1460–1960. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel, pp. 461–472.
- ^ History of the Basel Museum of Cultures. Archived 2011-01-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ History of the Kunstmuseum Basel.
- ^ Departements of the Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Historisches Museum Basel (1994): Historisches Museum Basel. Führer durch die Sammlungen. Merrell Holberton, London, pp. 10–16.
- ^ History of the Basel Sculpture Hall. Archived 2009-02-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ History of the Museum of Design (Museum für Gestaltung) Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine The museum was initially continued on a private basis in Weil am Rhein and then in Basel as an exhibition firm. The School of Design (Schule für Gestaltung) still mounts exhibitions with holdings from the poster collection.
- ^ Mathys, F. K. (1980). "Basels Schatzkammern. Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung unserer Museen." Basler Stadtbuch 1979, p. 162.
- ^ Mathys, F. K. (1980). "Basels Schatzkammern. Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung unserer Museen." Basler Stadtbuch 1979, p. 159.
- ^ History of the Kunsthalle
- ^ Mathys, F. K. (1980). "Basels Schatzkammern. Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung unserer Museen." Basler Stadtbuch 1979, pp. 159–160.
- ^ Bonjour, Edgar (1960). Die Universität Basel 1460–1960. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel, pp. 465–466.
- ^ Mathys, F. K. (1980). "Basels Schatzkammern. Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung unserer Museen." Basler Stadtbuch 1979, pp. 160–163.
- ^ Swiss Architecture Museum (Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum) The Architecture Museum opens its new premises in the Kunsthalle.
- ^ Website of the Herzog Foundation.
- ^ See the corresponding entries on the Basel-Country website: "Museums in the Municipalities" (in German)
- ^ "History of the Museum.BL and its collections". Archived from the original on 2009-06-20. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
- ^ History of the Museum am Burghof. Archived 2009-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Monteil, Annemarie (1977). Basler Museen. Birkhäuser Publishing, Basel, p. 300.
- ^ History of the Museum of Music Automatons.
- ^ Informations about the Museum and the Art Association. Archived 2009-04-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Informations about the Riehen Art Space. Archived 2008-12-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Website of the Sculpture at Schoenthal Foundation
- ^ Museum history Archived 2012-06-30 at archive.today (French)
- ^ There are older though no longer existent municipal collections. For instance, the Zurich Citizens’ Library (Zürcher Burgerbibliothek) was founded back in 1629 with an affiliated coin cabinet and art collection but closed its doors in 1780.
- ^ Meier, Nikolaus (1999). Identität und Differenz. Zum 150. Jahrestag der Eröffnung des Museums an der Augustinergasse in Basel. Offprint from volume 100 of the Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde, p. 133.
- ^ Kreis, Georg; von Wartburg, Beat (2000). Basel. Geschichte einer städtischen Gesellschaft. Christoph Merian Publishing, Basel, p. 397.
- ^ Meier, Nikolaus (1999). Identität und Differenz. Zum 150. Jahrestag der Eröffnung des Museums an der Augustinergasse in Basel. Offprint from volume 100 of the Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde, p. 136.
- ^ Kreis, Georg; von Wartburg, Beat (2000). Basel. Geschichte einer städtischen Gesellschaft. Christoph Merian Publishing, Basel, p. 398.
- ^ Meier, Nikolaus (1999). Identität und Differenz. Zum 150. Jahrestag der Eröffnung des Museums an der Augustinergasse in Basel. Offprint from volume 100 of the Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde, pp. 121–122.
- ^ The university holdings constitute “the indivisible property of the canton of Basel-City, indissolubly tied to the locality of the city of Basel and never to be alienated from the stipulations of the foundations and the function of the institutions of higher education.” University Holdings Act (Gesetz über das Universitätsgut) from 16 June 1999, § 2.
- ^ Meier, Nikolaus (1999). Identität und Differenz. Zum 150. Jahrestag der Eröffnung des Museums an der Augustinergasse in Basel. Offprint from volume 100 of the Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde, pp. 124–125.
- ^ Meier, Nikolaus (1999). Identität und Differenz. Zum 150. Jahrestag der Eröffnung des Museums an der Augustinergasse in Basel. Offprint from volume 100 of the Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde, pp. 130–131.
- ^ Bonjour, Edgar (1960). Die Universität Basel von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. 1460–1960. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel, pp. 402–404.
- ^ Bonjour, Edgar (1960). Die Universität Basel von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. 1460–1960. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel, p. 409.
- ^ Bonjour, Edgar (1960). Die Universität Basel von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. 1460–1960. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel, pp. 467–470.
- ^ Meier, Nikolaus (1999). Identität und Differenz. Zum 150. Jahrestag der Eröffnung des Museums an der Augustinergasse in Basel. Offprint from volume 100 of the Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde, p. 165.
- ^ Meier, Nikolaus (1999). Identität und Differenz. Zum 150. Jahrestag der Eröffnung des Museums an der Augustinergasse in Basel. Offprint from volume 100 of the Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde, p. 179.
- ^ Huber, Dorothea (1993). Architekturführer Basel. Die Baugeschichte der Stadt und ihrer Umgebung. Architecture Museum Basel, Basel, p. 193.
- ^ Meier, Nikolaus (1999). Identität und Differenz. Zum 150. Jahrestag der Eröffnung des Museums an der Augustinergasse in Basel. Offprint from volume 100 of the Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde, pp. 122, 133.
- ^ Huber, Dorothea (1993). Architekturführer Basel. Die Baugeschichte der Stadt und ihrer Umgebung. Architecture Museum Basel, Basel, pp. 301–302.
- ^ Not obtained from private collections, none of the 21 acquired pieces had to be restituted after the war. Kreis, Georg (1997). Die Schweiz und der Handel mit Raubkunst im Zusammenhang mit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Archived 2007-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ The naming of the square followed a gift of four paintings by Pablo Picasso in appreciation of the positive referendum vote on the city’s purchase of two of his paintings.
- ^ Monteil, Annemarie (1977). Basler Museen. Birkhäuser Publishing, Basel, pp. 13–14.
- ^ "In 1967 – an exhibition of Basel's Farnsburg Group (Farnsburgergruppe) at the Klingental Exhibition Gallery (Ausstellungsraum Klingental)". Archived from the original on 2007-11-18. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
- ^ History of the Progressive Museum
- ^ Suter, Raphael (1996). "Die Schliessung zweier Museen stösst auf Widerstand." Basler Stadtbuch 1995, pp. 158–161.
- ^ Suter, Raphael (1996). "Ist das erste Museologie-Studium der Schweiz bereits am Ende?" Basler Stadtbuch 1995, pp. 109–111.
- ^ The museums of Basel-City make up around a third of the canton’s annual culture budget of approximately a hundred million francs. See the 2009 Basel-City Culture Budget. Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Visitor figures of the museums in the canton of Basel-City According to the Statistical Office of Canton Basel-City, the Basel museums have the following visitor figures: 1,745,142 in 2004, 1,202,959 in 2005, 1,334,031 in 2006.
- ^ Governing Council of Canton Basel-City: Politikplan 2008–2011, p. 9.
- ^ Visitors figures of the museums in Basel-City. Attracting 600,000 visitors, the Tutankhamen exhibition at the Museum of Ancient Art boosted overnight hotel stays in Basel hotels by around 6% in 2004.
- ^ Study by the Human Geography Institute (Humangeographisches Institut) of the University of Basel By conservative estimates, the Basel museums generate added value of at least 41 million francs per year (up to just under 55 million francs including the Museum am Burghof and the Vitra Design Museum).
- ^ Museums Act (Museumsgesetz) from 16 June 1999, §§ 6, 9, 14.
External links
- Basel museums website on museums in and around Basel
- Museums in the Municipalities website (Museen in den Gemeinden – in German) on the museums of local history and culture in Basel-Country