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Museum Rietberg Photo by Ikiwaner

Top 10 Cool Facts about Museum Rietberg

The Rietberg Museum is a museum in Zürich, Switzerland, displaying Asian, African, American and Oceanian art. It is the only art museum focusing on non-European art and design in Switzerland, the third-largest museum in Zürich, and the largest to be run by the city itself.

In 2007, it received approximately 157,000 visitors. In the early 1940s, the city of Zürich purchased the Rieterpark and the Wesendonck Villa. In 1949, the villa was selected, by referendum, to be rebuilt into a museum for the art collection of Baron von der Heydt which he had donated to the city in 1945.

Let’s take a look at some of the cool facts about it;

1.It was build in 1951 and opened to the public in 1952

This was carried out in 1951-52 under the architect Alfred Gradmann. The Rietberg Museum was opened on 24 May 1952. Johannes Itten, the Swiss expressionist painter, was director of the museum until 1956.

In 1976, the city acquired the Schönberg Villa, which had been threatened with demolition, and opened it in 1978 as an extension of the museum. Today, the villa is also home to an extensive non-lending library administrated by the museum.

2.The Rietberg Museum is situated in the 17-acre (69,000 m2) Rieterpark in central Zürich

Villa Wesendonck (Rietberg Museum) Photo by Alex Schröder

The Rietberg Museum is situated in the 17-acre (69,000 m2) Rieterpark in central Zürich, on the western shores of the Lake Zurich, and consists of several historic buildings: the Wesendonck Villa, the Remise (or “Depot”), the Rieter Park-Villa, and the Schönberg Villa.

In 2007 a new building, designed by Alfred Grazioli and Adolf Krischanitz, was opened – the addition of this largely subterranean building, known as “Smaragd”, more than doubled the museum’s exhibition space.The Rieterpark is located near Zürich Enge railway station, and can also be reached by tram line #7 and bus line #33.

3.The museum is operated by the presidential department of Zürich City

The Rietberg Museum is operated by the presidential department of the city of Zürich. In 2007, it employed around one hundred people. About half of the funding comes from the city, while the other half is raised through revenue, sponsors, and donations.

Additions to the collection come mostly from donations. It has since become one of the most sought after museums in Switzerland with a very huge following. It is also one of the most visited museums in the world with a huge collection of art. 

4.The museum has an in-house press

The museum established an in-house press shortly after its founding in 1952. Initially, it published catalogues of the museum’s Asian and African artworks, as well as occasional short monographs. The museum’s publishing activity has increased since 1985,

In connection with the large special exhibitions that it has organised since then, it now publishes around five new titles per year.Since 1991, the museum also publishes Artibus Asiae, a biannual scholarly journal on the arts and archaeology of Asia. 

5.Museum Rietberg considers making its collections accessible to a wide audience online

collections at the Zürich, Museum Rietberg’s Schaudepot Photo sourced from

The Museum Rietberg considers making its collections accessible to as a wide an audience as possible one of its main tasks. By extending and continuously developing its Online Collections, the Museum is able to fulfil this task and thus also reach out to audiences and target groups that are unable to visit Zurich in person.

More than fifty per cent of the Museum Rietberg’s holdings are already online. The long-term aim is to make the museum’s entire collection digitally accessible, not only in German but also in English. The Online Collections and information regarding specific objects are continuously updated and extended. 

6.The museum has so many collections

Swiss carnival masks in Museum Rietberg Photo by Andreas Praefcke

The Museum Rietberg has some 23,000 objects and 37,000 ethnographic photographs in its collections. Most of the objects are on public display, either in the museum’s galleries or in its open storeroom. Objects collected by Eduard von der Heydt form the heart of a collection that continues to grow thanks to long-standing contacts with notable collectors. 

 Thanks also to foundations and patrons as well as through purchases, donations, and bequests. Among the museum’s highlights are Chinese porcelain from the Meiyintang Collection, Indian miniature paintings from the Alice Boner Collection, and Himalayan Buddhist art from the Berti Aschmann collection.

7.The museum has a Conservation & Restoration Department

The collections at the Museum Rietberg comprise works of very diverse materials, some of them thousands of years old. Preserving them and preparing them for display in the museum or for national and international loans, is one of key tasks of the Conservation & Restoration Department.

The work on collection pieces and new acquisitions aims at preserving a work’s substance while, at the same time, ensuring its readability and saving information on the object.The museum also relies on the expertise of the museum’s conservation and restoration specialists in the respective works’ country of origin in terms of knowledge exchange and the building of mutual trust.

8.From the museum you can get a view of the city and the Alps

The museum has an internationally renowned collection of artworks from Asia, Africa, America and Oceania. In addition, the impressively staged temporary exhibitions attract worldwide attention.Get to experience the unique interaction of old and new after a walk through the secluded Rieterpark with views of the city and the Alps. 

The historic villas tell their story – the German dramatic composer and theorist Richard Wagner wrote his opera “Tristan and Isolde” here – while the modern green glass pavilion, the Emerald, acts as the entrance to the modern underground extension.

9.There are several hotels and restaurants near it

There are several hotels and restaurants near it including;Engimatt City & Garden Hotel (0.25 mi), Four Points by Sheraton Sihlcity – Zurich (0.32 mi), B2 Boutique Hotel + Spa (0.46 mi), Park Hyatt Zurich (0.61 mi) and Alden Suite Hotel (0.45 mi). 

The restaurants include; Rietberg Museum – Café & Shop which is 0.01 miles away, Belvoirpark (0.18 mi), Sternen Da Guido (0.11 mi), Restaurant Bar Rietberg (0.14 mi) Restaurant Weisses Rössli which is 0.27 miles aways from the museum. 

10.The museum also has a non loaning library and a child friendly program

The museum is additionally home to a far reaching non-loaning library administrated by the museum which is among the most detailed places. They also have child-friendly offer “Mach mit” art for the little ones, the Museum Rietberg is always coming up with new activities for the youngest visitors.

On their tour through the museum, children encounter a very special work of art. During the workshop, they will learn fascinating things about it and let their own creativity run wild.The museum is one of the best which offers collections from different places in the world. It is one of the most sought after museum in Switzerland.