The Collections

The foundation of any museum is provided by its collections. This is also true of the Swiss National Museum, for which collecting, researching, maintaining and communicating are core assignments. The basic collection comprises some one million objects, enhanced both in quantity and in quality over recent years with comprehensive and significant acquisitions and donations.

Collections are curated in three interlocking competence centres:

Science and Collections
The «Science and Collections» department is a competence centre for research into Swiss material culture. Its curators acquire, inventory and investigate objects for the various collections, and report on them by way of exhibitions and publications. To this end they work closely with the Documentation Centre and the Collection Centre.

Documentation Centre
The Documentation Centre is charged with «Information and Documentation» with regard to collection holdings, as well as for any other relevant information and sources. It is an integral component of the «Science and Collections» department and performs many of its services for internal as well as for external clients.

Collection Centre
The Collection Centre is the central office for the physical maintenance of objects, for their (preventive) conservation/restoration and for object logistics, including lending. Material analysis and conservation research are also key areas of expertise.