Museum Schloss Burgdorf
Regional museum in Burgdorf Castle with cabinets of curiosities on the Zähringers, Pestalozzi, town history, world cultures and Swiss gold prospecting.
No sound? Check your device’s silent switch.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The castle above the Burgdorf old town goes back to a castle of the Counts of Rheinfelden and came to the Zähringers in 1090. Duke Berchtold V had the complex rebuilt around 1200; after the Kyburgers it fell to Bern in 1384, which installed a bailiff here. Between 1800 and 1804, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi ran his educational institute in the castle; later the cantonal administration used the rooms.
The museum's history begins early: the Rittersaal association (Rittersaalverein), founded in 1886, collected historical objects from Burgdorf and the Emmental, making it one of the early museum foundations in Switzerland. In addition there was an ethnological collection, based on the collector Heinrich Schiffmann, which grew from about 500 objects (1909) to over 8,000 pieces. In June 2000 a third collection opened, the Helvetic Gold Museum (today Goldkammer Schweiz), on the history of gold prospecting in Switzerland.
Since 2017 the association Museum Schloss Burgdorf has been responsible for the redesign. In 2020 the castle reopened as a multi-purpose complex with a museum, youth hostel, restaurant and banquet halls. The museum brings the three collections together in cabinets of curiosities (Wunderkammern) across more than 20 rooms and around 1,500 square metres. These lead through six themes, from the Zähringers through Pestalozzi and industrial history to gold from the Napf region.
Highlights
- Cabinets of curiosities in over 20 rooms with historical, ethnological and gold collections
- Themes: Zähringers, Pestalozzi, town and industrial history, migration and Napf gold
- Knights' hall and medieval castle rooms
- Family tours, detective tour and escape tour
- Review of the colonial legacy of the collection
Permanent exhibition
- Dauerausstellung in den Wunderkammern – Across more than 20 rooms, cabinets of curiosities bring together the collections of the castle museum, ethnology and the Goldkammer in six themes, from the Zähringers through Pestalozzi and town history to gold from the Napf.
- Founded
- 2020
- Operated by
- Verein Museum Schloss Burgdorf
Admission & discounts
| Adults | CHF 14 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | CHF 10Disability insurance (IV) recipients or people in training |
| Children & teens | CHF 6Children aged 6 to 16; children up to and including 12 may only enter with an adult. |
| Visitors with disabilities | CHF 10companion free · IV; one companion has free admission. |
| Students & apprentices | CHF 10In training |
| Groups (10+ people) | CHF 10 per personGroups of 10 or more paying people: adults CHF 10, IV or in training CHF 6, children CHF 4. School classes staying overnight at the youth hostel receive a 25% discount on tours and workshops. |
| Families | –The third and each further child in a family has free admission. |
Free admission with the Swiss Museum Pass, Raiffeisen Member Plus, Museum Card Bern, KulturLegi, VMS/ICOM card, residence status F, N or S, and for members of the collection associations and guests of the youth hostel. Individual tours are included in admission.
Accessibility
- Partially wheelchair accessible
- Elevator
- Accessible restroom
- Accessible parking
- Service dogs welcome
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
On the first floor, about twelve rooms are wheelchair accessible via a lift and stairlifts. The keep (Bergfried), wall walk (Wehrgang), gate tower (Torturm) and upper floors of the palace (Palas) have steep stairs. The approach to the castle is 200 metres long and rises 16%; with a booking the day before, there is a shuttle from Kronenplatz. An accessible parking space in the castle courtyard is available by prior registration. Wall texts can be enlarged online and audio files downloaded; quieter visiting times are Monday to Thursday, 10:00–16:00.
Kids & families
Great for kids & families
- Family tours & workshops
- Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
- Hands-on stations
- Kids’ birthday parties
Family tour with a treasure map and the castle ghost Burdtli (from age 4), detective tour, workshop "Abenteuer Mittelalter" (Adventure Middle Ages), and children's birthday parties. On Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and on Sundays, volunteers offer hands-on activities such as crafts or storytelling.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Burgdorf, Kronenplatz · 3-min walk
By train to Burgdorf (from Bern 13 minutes, Solothurn 27, Olten 29, Thun 53, Zurich 1 hour 10 minutes). From the station, 15 minutes on foot through the old town, or bus 461 (every 15 minutes) to Kronenplatz, then three minutes on foot.
By car
No on-site parking at the museum.
No visitor parking at the castle. Paid parking in the Oberstadt parking garage or on municipal car parks; for tour coaches there is a free car park by the market hall (three minutes to the castle). An accessible parking space in the castle courtyard is available by prior registration.
- Accessible parking
By car, about ten minutes from the Kirchberg exit of the A1 motorway. Burgdorf lies on the Herzroute; bicycle parking with e-bike charging stations is at Schlossgässli.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
- Restaurant
Restaurant in the castle, with a self-service menu at lunch and à la carte service in the evening (reservation).
Events & venue rental
- Spaces for rent
- Private parties
- Corporate events
- Weddings / ceremonies
Rooms for seminars, conferences, private events and weddings in the castle, including the Schiltensaal as a ceremonial room.
Inquiries & detailsPlan your visit
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Individual tours (video tour, Zähringer tour, building history tour, family tour from age 4, detective tour from age 9) are included in admission; the escape tour "Der Fluch von Schloss Burgdorf" (from age 12, 1.5 to 2 hours) costs extra. Tours for groups and schools, and workshops, are also offered, including in easy-language German. |
