In the first blog post of my series on museums in Basel, Switzerland I would like to introduce you to the Toy Worlds Museum (I will explain later why I spell its name like that). There is no particular reason why I didn’t choose a bigger museum first. I simply thought that, as Christmas is coming up, I better start with a smaller, more intimate museum.
1. The history of the museum
2. The collection
3. Bears – brown, black, polar, and more – The fourth floor
4. Contemporary pieces from the Toy Museum – The third floor
5. Colourful carousels and the temporary exhibition
7. Useful tips and information
The Toy Museum is located in the centre of Basel on Baarfüsserplatz. It’s impossible not to spot it at once, its festive window display is decorated in a very special way. Plush pets bustling about, going about their daily tasks, like doing the laundry or splitting firewood. Those who live in Basel are already used to the shopping windows always decorated according to the season. However, around Christmas time there’s a much bigger crowd of children in front of the Toy Museum. The museum has four floors and is more than 1000 square metres. Most of the items on display date from around 1900, but the third floor also features contemporary pieces. On the ground floor, there is a restaurant and a gift shop divided into two parts. The second floor is usually used for temporary exhibitions, while the top two floors house the permanent collection.
Toy Worlds Museum Basel
The Toy World Museum opened in 1998 in Basel, originally called as Puppenhausmuseum (Dollhouse Museum), and is now the largest toy museum in Europe with the most extensive antique teddy bear collection in the world. The building and much of the permanent exhibition are owned by a billionaire and patron of the arts, Gisela Oeri. However, it is Laura Sinanovitch who has been running the museum from the beginning. As director of the museum, she is responsible for both the permanent collection and the temporary exhibitions. The museum’s permanent collection currently consists of more than 6,000 exhibits, but the number is constantly growing.
The museum changed its name to Toy Worlds Museum in 2012. The museum’s management felt that the name ‘Dollhouse Museum’ was misleading and therefore they could not reach adult – male – audiences. In the new name (Spielzeug Welten Museum in German), the word Spielzeug, meaning toy, refers to the items in the permanent exhibition. While the word Welten, meaning worlds, refers to temporary exhibitions. This is why the two words – Toy Worlds Museum – should be written separately in each language. The temporary exhibitions present objects that are not necessarily related to children or toys. To give just a few examples, there have been exhibitions of avant-garde art and porcelain, several fashion-related ones or a walking stick exhibition.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any more relevant details about the history of the museum in general, so if you have any sources that could tell us more, please feel free to contact me.
Toy Worlds Museum Basel – the collection
The first time I visited the Toy World Museum in Basel, I was absolutely amazed at the entire collection. The whole building is filled with charming teddy bears, dolls and antique toys. My inner child couldn’t decide whether to go for the porcelain dolls, the carefully crafted dollhouses, or the teddy bears. I was absolutely mesmerised by the exhibition. Before I started writing the blog post I wanted to visit the museum again. This time I looked up the history of the museum and its exhibitions in detail. That’s how I found out, that practically all the known manufacturers from the heyday of doll-making are represented in the museum. Their teddy bear collection includes a piece that US President Theodore Roosevelt gave as a gift to a friend. But without further ado, let’s start our imaginary tour of the museum.
Bears – brown, black, polar, and more – The fourth floor
I decided to start from the top down and began my walk on the fourth floor. As soon as I entered the first room, I had to smile as hundreds of adorable bears were starting at me from behind the glass windows. The collection contains over 2000 bears, the oldest of which was born in 1904, but most of his relatives were also born before 1950. After a while, I thought I wouldn’t be able to cope with the enormous amount of stuffed toys. So I decided to systematise them in my head. Although I must admit that I didn’t approach the task in the most scientific way. My categories: happy, grumpy, goofy, genuinely surprised, dumb, and muzzled bears. But even those who want to see bears driving Formula 1 cars won’t be disappointed. You can browse here for items by their country of origin 🙂
I was a little surprised that there was no information on the individual objects. On the museum’s website, they mention that they deliberately did not put up signs to avoid disturbing the visual experience. Well, there may be nothing to distract from the experience, but there is also nothing to make the process of reception easier for the visitor. There are touchscreen panels, but only one on each floor at the entrance. To look up an item, one would have to keep going back to the entrance. I don’t think that’s very realistic. And unfortunately, they didn’t inform me about the museum’s interactive museum guide when I bought my ticket. I only found information on this later, after I went through the website more carefully. But maybe that is just my own limitation, I wouldn’t want to discourage you from visiting the museum.
Contemporary pieces from the Toy Museum – The third floor
On the third floor, you can see mostly contemporary objects, such as giant plush figures and miniatures based on 19th-century models. These include doll houses depicting everyday scenes and miniatures of different workshops. Interestingly, as its name implies, the Toy World Museum often commissions artists from different countries to create pieces for its exhibitions. As a result, you can find French, German, British, Italian and American items. My first thought was that adults would enjoy this part of the exhibition much more, but I was wrong. The children were running up and down, excitedly pointing out what they found interesting in each display. My personal favourites are the Basel Fair and the Sleeping Beauty story sets, but you’ll find many more in the album below.
On this floor, they dedicated a special section to Neapolitan folk art and nativity scene making. If I would have known what I was actually looking at, I would not have found these miniatures so strange. But then again I did not memorize the entire website of the museum by heart. And as there was zero information about these scenes I had no clue what I was staring at. Here’s more information on Neapolitan folk art on the museum’s website – you know just in case.
Colourful carousels
On the second floor, alongside the temporary exhibition, a miniature amusement park from the Basel Autumn Fair is the shimmering highlight of the permanent collection. The carousels, the Ferris wheel, and all the other carnival attractions come to life by pressing a button. The models by artist Marc Rippstein are carefully worked down to the smallest detail and are particularly authentic, as Rippstein himself worked as an exhibitor at the Autumn Fair.
On this floor, for no apparent reason, they placed a life-size wax figure on this floor. If you think that the lady is one of the founders of the museum, or that she had anything to do with the founding of the museum, you are wrong. In fact, it’s Margarete Steiff, a 19th-century stuffed animal maker whose toys are an important part of the collection of the Basel Toy Museum. In my opinion, they should have added a short explanation – besides her name – on a sign. It’s quite scary that there’s a wax figure in the middle of the museum, staring at you with empty eyes. If you’ve never heard of Steiff or her work, you’ll find a lot of interesting information on the Steiff Gmbh website (yes, the company is active to this day).
The temporary exhibition
The current temporary exhibition – Celestial, terrestrial, animalic – focuses on Christmas and Christmas tree decorations. I think it is much more interactive and informative than the rest of the museum.
For example, children are guided through the exhibition by Filou, a Christmas dog. And adults can get a glimpse into the details of Christmas tree ornament making.
The pieces on display date from 1880 to 1930 and most are the museum’s own, although some were borrowed from private collections. The temporary exhibition is open from 12 November 2022 to 19 February 2023.
Useful tips and information
Toy Museum Basel – opening hours
The Basel Toy Museum is open Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 18:00. Closed on Mondays.
What about the entry fees?
The standard entry costs CHF 7 and children under 16 years can enter free of charge. There are also discounted entry tickets, you can find out more about these here.
How long does it take to visit the museum?
You can check out the entire collection in 2 hours, but if you’re going with children, you should of course allow more time.
Is it possible to take a guided group tour?
Yes, you can book guided tours in German, French, English and Russian through Basel Tourismus. T +41 61 268 68 32 | +41 61 268 68 68
Is the museum worth visiting with children?
But of course!
Is it possible to visit the museum with disabilities?
Yes, the museum specifically highlights on its website that the entire museum, including the shop and Ristorante La Sosta restaurant, is accessible by wheelchair.
Other useful tips
To better enjoy the exhibition, you should check the museum’s website in advance for information about the collection. Ha erre esetlek nem lenne időtök, akkor pedig mindenképpen legyen teljesen feltöltve a telefonotok aksija, mert a múzeum Wifi-jére csatlakozva a számozott kiállítási tárgyakról lehet tájékozódni. Minderről több infó itt található.
