For schools

insanely normal for school classes
Workshop and interactive tour on the history of psychiatry in Basel
Cycle III: 1st to 3rd grade of secondary school

Bookable from 19.09.2024 - 29.06.2025

Psychiatry, with its diagnoses and therapies, is characterised by the zeitgeist. What was once considered a modern treatment method or current clinical picture is sometimes no longer comprehensible or has even disappeared from today's perspective. Pupils learn to understand psychiatry and its time-dependent conventions. The examination of evidence from the past leads them into the present in order to break down the taboos surrounding phenomena and think about the needs of society in the future.

Leaps in Time – A Brief History of Basel
My Basel, your Basel, our Basel!
Cycle III: 1st to 3rd grade of secondary school

Basel is changing all the time, both architecturally and socially. Until just recently it took pride in its international airport; but no one boasts about flying any more. For centuries, no building was allowed to be taller than the cathedral; but these days, the cathedral look tiny in comparison to the skyscrapers nearby. To make sense of these changes, we will view them as part of Basel’s development through the ages. Splitting into small groups and using the richly documented exhibition as a basis, participants will discover both the changes and the continuity, whether over time – the Middle Ages, the Modern Age and the present – or with regard to one particular aspect, such as Basel’s architectural, social or cultural identity. The outcome could well be a vision or prediction of the changes of the future.

Leaps in Time – A Brief History of Basel
Time travel
Cycle I: Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade of primary school

Fifty fascinating objects from 100,000 years of history and with them an invitation to time travel! Our new exhibition on Basel’s history is a distillation of our past from the Neanderthals to yesterday. After a brief introduction (with a long rope!) participants will select the object or event that interests them most. Supported by various media stations they will then have a chance to learn more about it and its larger historical context. Having become “experts”, they will then take their classmates on a journey through time and try to sell them the period they have just discovered. Will they succeed? Was everything really better back then? Or should we consider ourselves lucky to be living in the present age?

Leaps in Time – A Brief History of Basel
Who makes history?
Cycle III: 1st to 3rd grade of secondary school

History goes back a long way; yet it starts yesterday and will continue today. This exhibition shows six interpretations of some of the burning issues of the recent past, which still have the power to arouse passions even today:

Separated but connected – The relationship between Basel-Stadt and Basel-Land
Space and scope – The Alte Stadtgärtnerei
Prosperity and dependency – Basel and the life sciences
Arriving and staying – Migration and integration
Disaster and turning point – The Schweizerhalle chemical spill
A passion for red-blue – FC Basel

Participants will form groups and engage with the different interpretations presented. They will then discuss their impressions and what they have learned. What is history? Who makes history? Who writes history? And which events in our own lifetime will Basel Historical Museum want to exhibit 50 or 100 years from now?

Dance into the Beyond
Stories of Disease and Death
Cycle II: 3rd to 6th grade of primary school
Cycle III: 1st to 3rd grade of secondary school

For many centuries, diseases and epidemics posed a far greater risk than they do today. This tour centres on the Basel Dance of Death. Taking this famous cycle of paintings as a starting point, the children will examine how people in times past coped with death and the mental images they formed of death. They will look discerningly at the paintings and consider the possible interpretations. Working in small groups, they will identify the many different messages of the Dance of Death.

Thunderbolts and Shark’s Teeth
Finds from Old Treasure Chests
Cycle I: Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade of primary school
Cycle II: 3rd to 6th grade of primary school

Collecting helps us make sense of the world. Things that are valuable or important are kept in treasure chests. Things that are curious or weird fire the imagination. How did people used to collect? And why did they collect? And what do their collections tell us about what they knew of the world? On this tour, there will be stories about unicorns and the children will get to see fossils, coins, bone fragments and much else besides. There will also be some very special treasure chests and some truly exceptional collectibles to admire. The children are invited to bring along one or two items from their own collections.

Unicorns, Dragons, Gods
Fantasy Worlds of the Past
Cycle I: Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade of primary school
Cycle II: 3rd to 6th grade of primary school

Medieval tapestries are teeming with “Wild People” and other fantasy creatures. Giants, dwarves and dragons have always captured people’s imagination. Even famous scientists have been known to study them! But such curious and precious things were not only studied, they were also collected and preserved. Live lizards were used as models for casts, statuettes of ancient gods were copied and mythical creatures were depicted in paintings and sculptures. All these things helped people to understand the world. On this tour, the children will explore how the people of the past pictured the world and how their images changed over the centuries.

Discovering and Exploring the World
The History of Science
Cycle III: 1st to 3rd grade of secondary school

How did the people of the past imagine the world to look? Since when have we known that the earth revolves around the sun? How did the stargazers of times past use an astrolabe or an armillary sphere? The sciences also have a history. The continents had to be discovered, the size of the universe calculated, the laws of physics understood and the human body explored. The objects preserved in historical cabinets of curiosity attest to our forebears’ thirst for knowledge. On this tour, the children will examine globes, measuring instruments and other curiosities and so embark on a journey of discovery to the discoverers of the past.

The Celtic City and Roman Period
Basel’s First Settlers
Cycle II: 3rd to 6th grade of primary school

Buried in the ground beneath our feet are several thousand years of Basel history. The Celts built two important settlements on the bend in the River Rhine now occupied by Basel and then the Romans conquered the hill where the cathedral now stands and made it part of their empire. Jewellery, pots, tools and eating implements tell us about the everyday lives led by those early settlers. The museum’s two models of those first settlements give us a vivid impression of just how developed the cultures were. The children will take a closer look at selected objects and by learning what they are made of and what their purpose was will discover the history of the Celts and Romans in Basel.

Celts, Romans, Alemanni
An Archaeological Mystery Tour in Basel
Cycle III: 1st to 3rd grade of secondary school

The more thoroughly the archaeological remains still buried in the ground are studied, the more complex the past becomes. The Celts had built two major settlements before the Romans conquered the hill where the cathedral now stands. Their arrival led to the development of a hybrid Celtic-Roman culture. In later centuries, the Alemanni and Franks brought some important innovations of their own. What do archaeological finds tell us about these highly developed cultures? On this tour, the children will learn all about the early history of Basel and how it was settled. Taking selected objects as examples, they will be able to reconstruct the changes introduced by each new culture, specifically the Celts, Romans, Alemanni and Franks.

Instrumentissimo
The History, Function and Playing Methods of Musical Instruments
Cycle I: Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade of primary school
Cycle II: 3rd to 6th grade of primary school
Cycle III: 1st to 3rd grade of secondary school

Using eyes and ears, the children will explore the differences in sound and build between familiar and unfamiliar, old and new instruments. In the process, they learn about different ways of producing sound, which are still valid today when instruments are divided into categories. An essential part of the tour is also the opportunity to try out selected musical instruments, which is not an everyday fun for young and old.

Peter and the Wolf
Fairytales in the music museum
Cycle I: Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade of primary school

In 1936, Sergei Prokofiev created a musical fairy tale, "Peter and the Wolf", which still fascinates children and adults today. On the tour through the museum, children meet the courageous Peter, the little bird, the worried grandfather and the big, grey wolf. Based on the story, they get to know Prokofiev's music. They go in search of the appropriate instruments, which they can not only look at but also try out for themselves.

Plucking Whistling Hammering
Playing black and white keys from harpsichord to Hammond organ
Cycle II: 3rd to 6th grade of primary school
Cycle III: 1st to 3rd grade of secondary school

They all have black and white keys. But that's where the similarities end. The family of keyboard instruments offers a variety of different instruments: from very old harpsichords to large church organs and imposing concert grand pianos to bar pianos and Hammond organs. On a journey through the world of keyboard instruments, pupils learn more about their history and how they work and experiment with different types of plucked, whistled and hammered sound production.

Of violas, frogs and dancing violins
the family of string instruments
Cycle II: 3rd to 6th grade of primary school
Cycle III: 1st to 3rd grade of secondary school

From Renaissance instruments to Baroque and modern construction methods, the development of the string family through the centuries is explored. The Music Museum's collection also includes specialities such as a pochette (dancing master violin) and the nyckelharpa.
Audio examples illustrate the different roles of the instruments in a string orchestra or string quartet. Finally, the pupils can try their hand at playing the violin themselves.

Craft and art - musical instrument making through the ages
An interactive workshop about the development and manufacturing process of musical instruments.
Cycle II: 3rd to 6th grade of primary school
Cycle III: 1st to 3rd grade of secondary school

Whether saxophone, piano or electric guitar, all musical instruments have to be made before they can be played. Solid craftsmanship, dexterity and ingenuity coupled with a clear concept of sound are still a prerequisite for the construction of musical instruments today. Selected exhibits from five centuries are used as examples to show how musical instruments have developed. Experiments with materials and sound deepen the knowledge through sensory experience.