A view of the mountains – in the middle of the city
The permanent exhibition of the Swiss Alpine Museum
The permanent exhibition provides an attractive insight into the mysterious nature of the alpine world as well as the cultural peculiarities of the mountain regions.
It reminds us of the historical roots of today’s conditions and also draws our attention to
current problems.
On the ground-floor, which focuses on the alpine nature, you encounter the art of mountain reliefs
(terrain models), geology, tectonics, glaciers, weather, vegetation and fauna.
On the second floor, which focuses on the cultivated alpine landscape, the exhibition covers such topics as cartography and survey, alpine agriculture, folklore (wooden documents or tally sticks, family and child, customs and traditions), types of settlement and house building, development and landscape changes, alpinism, tourism and winter sports, ways of damaging and protecting the Alps.
Beside original exhibits with their particular fascination there are paintings and prints on display such as the extraordinary monumental dioramas by Ferdinand Hodler from 1894 and the paintings by Alexandre Calame and E.T.Compton. The music and slide show «Mountain Country“» and the videos about mountain wildlife round off the wide range of topics.
The permanent exhibition, however, cannot show everything. You will learn more when you look at our collections.
© Schweizerisches Alpines Museum Bern