Museum Heiden

About the museum

Museum Heiden is a local history museum and a regional museum for the Appenzell Vorderland. Since 1874 the Historisch-Antiquarischer Verein Heiden (Historical and Antiquarian Society of Heiden) has been collecting archival material and objects on the domestic and everyday culture of bourgeois Heiden since the 19th century; this collection still forms the foundation today. The focus is on the history of the village since the village fire of 1838.

The museum is housed on the upper floors of the post office building on Kirchplatz, opposite the late Neoclassical church. The current permanent exhibition "Kuren und Kurieren in Heiden" ("Taking the Cure in Heiden") traces the fashionable era of the spa town of European importance from the 19th century to the First World War, from the reconstruction after the fire via the Rorschach–Heiden railway to doctors, hotels and spa facilities.

In addition there is a natural history collection, which began in 1859 with a purchase and whose 1952 exhibition has been preserved in its original state. An ethnographic and colonial history section shows objects from the former Dutch East Indies, including legacies of Appenzell travelling merchants. The display "Von der Wunderkammer zum Museum" ("From the Cabinet of Curiosities to the Museum") links these themes.

Highlights

• Permanent exhibition "Kuren und Kurieren in Heiden" on the European spa town
• Natural history exhibition from 1952 in its original state
• Objects from the Dutch East Indies and colonial history
• "Von der Wunderkammer zum Museum" as a history of the museum
• House organ from 1798 in the local history collection

Permanent exhibitions

• Kuren und Kurieren in Heiden – The permanent exhibition highlights Heiden's rise to a spa town of European importance between 1850 and the First World War, with the Kursaal, hotels, spa doctors and mountain railway.
• Von der Wunderkammer zum Museum – The natural history collection with a crocodile, rhinoceros horn and birds of paradise becomes the story of the cabinet of curiosities turning into the modern museum.
• Koloniales: Objekte aus Niederländisch-Indien – Ethnographic objects from Java, Sumatra and Borneo as well as legacies of Appenzell merchants and colonial entrepreneurs in Indonesia.

Founded

1874

Operated by

Historisch-Antiquarischer Verein Heiden

Director

Marcel Zünd

Admission & discounts

Price in CHF or EUR. Free admission with the Museum Pass, Raiffeisen plus, VMS/ICOM, Appenzeller Ferienkarte and various guest cards, as well as for members of the Historisch-Antiquarischer Verein Heiden. Public tours are free of charge; admission must be paid.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: not available
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The museum is located on the upper floors of the post office building and, according to its website, is not wheelchair accessible.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

Kirchplatz is Heiden's transport hub; the PostBuses stop here. From the upper station of the Rorschach–Heiden railway it is about a 5 to 10-minute walk to Kirchplatz. The museum is located on the upper floors of the post office building.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

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