Historisches Museum Basel

The Haus zum Kirschgarten ranks among the most important museums of domestic life in Switzerland. It was built as both private residence and business premises for the silk manufacturer J.R. Burckhardt between 1775 and 1780. The period rooms showing how people lived in 18th and 19th century Basel are spread over two storeys. The premises also houses special collections of international standing: the porcelain collection of the Pauls Eisenbeiss Foundation, the Nathan Rupp and Dr. Eugen Gschwind collection of clocks and watches, collections of scientific instruments, silverware made in Basel, and toys.

The Haus zum Kirschgarten built between 1775 and 1780 marks the apogee of secular Louis-Seize architecture on the Upper Rhine. It is surprisingly ambitious for a merchant’s private house. The finely worked sandstone façade with its triaxial portico, the coach entrance with its paired columns, and the spacious hallway are among the most striking features of the building. Johann Rudolf Burckhardt-de-Bary, silk manufacturer and son-in-law of the mayor of Basel, was only 25 when he commissioned his new palace. The contract went to Ulrich Büchel-Fatio of Basel, an architect even younger than his client who was very interested in the latest architectural trends. Burckhardt was obliged to sell his fine new palace as early as 1797, after which it changed hands several times. Thus, by the time it became a museum (the decision was made in 1933, although the museum did not actually open until 1951) most of the original furnishings as well as the original room structure had been lost.

The building as it is today consequently gives us no more than a fragmentary impression of the palace’s erstwhile interior. The suite of stuccoed hallway, vestibule, and salon has been preserved, as has the first floor library and three rooms on the third floor. The latter comprise the green Panelled Room, the Burckhardt Bedroom, and the Rose Boudoir dating from 1780. Yet none of these rooms contain their original furnishings, which unfortunately were never documented.

The exhibition concept builds on that of Basel’s first museum of domestic life at the Segerhof. That merchant’s residence, which Miss Marie Burckhardt made over to the city – complete with contents – in 1923, was demolished in 1934. The interiors were not lost, however, and since the furnishings of the guest room, dining room, Grey Hall, and kitchen were well documented and typical of those belonging to a well-to-do Basel family, they were transferred either in part or in their entirety to the Haus zum Kirschgarten.