Look to your left for the crisp white stucco facade featuring a broad arched entryway and a tall vertical banner hanging flat against the wall. Since we just stepped away from the Natural History Museum, you are actually looking at the other half of a historical split. Back in 1849, the architect Melchior Berri built a massive multipurpose museum right here, over the ruins of an old Augustinian monastery, which was a complex for monks living under strict religious vows. Berri's building originally held everything the city collected, from library books to ancient Mexican artifacts brought back by a wealthy Basel businessman named Lukas Vischer. What started as a cabinet of curiosities funded by rich private collectors evolved into a heavy-hitting scientific institution. Researchers like Fritz and Paul Sarasin journeyed outward, professionalizing the collection until it became one of the most important ethnographic museums in all of Europe. Ethnography is the systematic study of individual human cultures and customs, and this building houses a staggering collection of over three hundred and twenty thousand cultural objects. To give you a sense of the sheer scale hidden behind these walls, there is a sixteen meter tall cult house inside, constructed by the Abelam people of Papua New Guinea.
As the decades passed, the world changed, and so did the museum's philosophy. In 1996, it officially became the Museum of Cultures Basel. The focus shifted away from simply putting foreign objects in glass boxes, moving instead toward active intercultural dialogue. They began curating thematic exhibitions that connect global human experiences directly to the here and now. And you cannot talk about this museum without talking about its roof. Between 2008 and 2011, the famous Basel architecture firm Herzog and de Meuron gave the courtyard building a radical crown. They designed a wildly modern, folded roof that aggressively overhangs the older structure, covered entirely in shimmering, black-green hexagonal tiles. The modern materiality was so shocking to local heritage defenders that they filed formal legal complaints to stop it. That fierce pushback sparked a massive debate over historic preservation and delayed the grand opening by three whole years. If you want to see that spectacular roof or the towering cult house yourself, the museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM. This incredible blend of ancient artifacts and bold modern architecture makes this spot truly unforgettable. Once you have admired that incredible roof, we can make our way toward the Basel City Command.
