Exploring Museum der Kulturen Basel

Before the museum had a permanent home, it received hundreds of ancient Mexican ceramics and statues collected by Lukas Vischer of Basel. This donation remains one of the most significant European collections of ancient American art in the museum's holdings.

In 1849, the institution moved into a large neoclassical edifice on Münster hill, designed by architect Melchior Berri. The building was constructed on the site of a former Augustinian monastery and became the permanent home for its growing collections.

The museum formally established a dedicated ethnology department, known as the Abteilung für Völkerkunde, to better manage and showcase its specialized ethnographic collections.

The ethnographic collection became an independent institution in 1917. While it remained located within the same neoclassical building as the Natural History Museum, this shift marked its administrative separation as an autonomous entity.

To reflect its dual mission of documenting both local Swiss customs and foreign cultures, the institution was renamed the Museum für Völkerkunde und Schweizerisches Museum für Volkskunde in 1944.

Reflecting a strategic shift toward promoting intercultural dialogue and comparative studies, the museum was officially rebranded as the Museum of Cultures in 1996.

In 2008, the museum opened a new main entrance on the Münsterplatz. This renovation was designed to improve visitor accessibility and provide the museum with a distinct institutional identity, separate from the adjacent Natural History Museum.

The Museum of Cultures is officially recognized as a Swiss heritage site of national significance, underscoring its historical importance and the cultural value of its collections within the nation.