• Science and Collections
  • 20th/21st-Century Collection
  • Archaeological Collection
  • Arms and Militaria Collection
  • Banner and Flag Collection
  • Carriage, Wagon, Sled Collection
  • Ceramics Collection
  • Coin and Medal Collection
  • Ethnographic Collection
  • Furnishings Collection
  • Glass Collection
  • Graphic Collection
  • Historic Photography Collection
  • Jewellery Collection
  • Painting Collection
  • Precious Metals Collections
  • Sculpture Collection
  • Seal Collection
  • Stained Glass Collection
  • Textiles and Costume Collection
  • Timepiece and Scientific Instrument Collection
  • Toy Collection
  • Uniform Collection
• Documentation Centre
• Sammlungszentrum
• Lending and Registration
• Scientific Publications
• Online Collections

Science and Collections

The «Science and Collections» department is a competence centre for research into Swiss material culture. Its curators are charged principally with the professional acquisition of collection holdings, including maintaining an inventory, performing analyses, and interpreting the objects acquired. To this end they work closely with the Documentation Centre (catalogue, picture archive and library). The results of their research are presented in permanent and special exhibitions, lectures, guided tours and frequent publications.

Specialists at the Swiss National Museum take an interdisciplinary approach to research, including both the social and the natural sciences. Curators cover the entire period from Prehistory through Antiquity to the present day.

The collections of the Swiss National Museum reflect the diverse archaeological, historical and artistic heritage of Switzerland’s various cultures and regions. The core consists of holdings from the old Zurich Civic Library, the Antiquarian Society, the old Zurich Armoury, and the federal government.

The collections have grown vigorously over the last hundred years and today number some one million objects. The Mediaeval and Modern collections are the most significant, in terms of both quality and quantity. For some years now the museum has been focusing particularly on collecting items from the 20th and 21st centuries. The various special sections are described on the pages that follow.

Download Guidelines for Collecting by the Swiss National Museum (PDF).