Bern History Museum

Excavations from the Stone Age, archaeological discoveries and the Bernese silver treasure: the Bern History Museum is a growing repository of knowledge and experience on the culture and history of Bern – and the world. Its collections in history, archaeology and ethnography comprise half a million objects. They offer insights into ways of life from different historical eras and cultural contexts.

Around 550 years ago, the Swiss Confederates and their allies defeated the troops of Duke Charles the Bold at the Battle of Murten. To mark the 400th anniversary, the Zurich Panorama Society dedicated a 100-metre-long and 10-metre-high panoramic painting to this victory. In the new exhibition at the Bern History Museum on the Battle of Murten, the panorama is once again on display in digitalised form, offering a fresh perspective on the battle. The exhibition shows how historical events are condensed into captivating stagings that reveal more about the time in which they were created than about the battles themselves. It raises a central question: Who tells history, for what purpose, and who benefits from the staging of war?

At first glance, the connection between Bern and Greenland may seem surprising. Yet in the early 20th century, Swiss researchers also travelled to what was then Danish-colonised territory. From their expeditions, they brought back numerous objects that were incorporated into the collection of the Bern History Museum. The exhibition “Greenland ahoy! Perspectives on a colonial legacy” takes this collection as its starting point for a multi-perspective exploration. It presents selected objects while raising fundamental questions: What stories do these objects tell?

The integrated Einstein Museum places the life and work of the physicist in a global historical context.