animalistic ! – The Sound of Animals
The special exhibition presents the many connections between animals and music.
With over 3,300 objects to its name, Basel Historical Museum is in possession of Switzerland’s largest collection of musical instruments.
Spread over three floors, the Musikmuseum boasts some 650 European instruments spanning five centuries of music history from the oldest drum dating from 1571 and a highly ornate viola da gamba by Joachim Tielke (ca. 1704) to the Weber Unika Orchestrion of 1925. The twenty-four cells of the former prison serve as showcases in which visitors can admire the instruments while calling up countless samples and additional information on an interactive screen. While touring the museum you will therefore hear all sorts of music, from the familiar to the bizarre.
The special exhibition presents the many connections between animals and music.
In our online shop, we offer you publications as well as other selected products.
Music from the 1920s to the 1960s can often be heard emanating from the play salon. The Weber Unika Orchestrion and AMI Continental Jukebox play dance music several times a day.
Swiss National Day
August 1, 2023
Tuesday:
11 AM to 5 PM
Christmas Eve
December 24, 2023
Sunday:
closed
Christmas Day
December 25, 2023
Monday:
closed
Boxing Day
December 26, 2023
Tuesday:
11 AM to 5 PM
New Year's Eve
December 31, 2023
Sunday:
open
New Year's Day
January 1, 2024
Monday:
11 AM to 5 PM
Adults CHF 10.–
Reduced rate CHF 5.– *
Combi-Ticket for all three sites: CHF 20.–
Combi-Ticket for all three sites, reduced rate: CHF 10.– *
Groups of 10 or more CHF 8.–
* young people under 18 and up to 30 if still in education or training
Happy Day: 1st Sunday of the month
Happy Hour: Last hour of the day (except Sundays & holidays)
Accompanying person of IV card holder
Children up to 13
Members of Association for Basel Historical Museum
Members of ICOM/VMS
Holders of Museums-PASS-Musées, Swiss Museum Pass or Colourkey
Selected events are subject to a surcharge of CHF 5.– in addition to admission fee.
Musikmuseum stands on a hill above the Barfüsserplatz in the medieval heart of Basel. It belongs to a complex that dates back to St. Leonhard’s Convent, a monastery of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine. The Church of St. Leonhard, thought to have been founded between 1060 and 1070, is part of the same ensemble. Like so many other buildings in Basel, the convent was severely damaged by the great earthquake of 1356 and had to be repaired at considerable expense. The 15th century brought further troubles as a result of war, plague and famine, and not until the end of that century was there a change for the better. The arrival of the Reformation in Basel in 1529 put an end to its monastic activities once and for all, while the Church of St. Leonhard was named one of Basel’s four Protestant parish churches. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the complex was used as a builder’s yard and since the yard also doubled as the place where the Lohnherren, or employers, paid out wages, it came to be known as the Lohnhof (lit. «wage yard»). This is how things stood in 1821 when the police moved in.
From 1835 to 1995, the former convent was used as a prison and when that, too, closed, the Basel-based architects Morger & Degelo converted the former library and cell tract into a museum of music. The building housing the Musikmuseum will soon be a thousand years old and its history has remained visible to this day.
Basel Historical Museum
Management & administration
Steinenberg 4
PO box
CH – 4001 Basel
Reception: +41 61 205 86 00
historisches.museum(at)bs.ch