The Raetian Museum

Rätisches Museum

The Historical Museum is located in the House Buol in the old part of Chur. The baroque patrician house was built in 1675 by Baron Paul von Buol zu Strassberg und Rietberg (1634-1697) who belonged to the ruling class of the Three Leagues. Inside the building the wide flights of stairs lead from the basement vaults to the ground floor with carriage entrance, to two stately floors, as well as to the servants’ floor and the attic.

As in other Swiss cantons the founding of the museum was initiated by the increasing exodus of valuable cultural goods towards the end of the 19th century. The lawyer, historian and politician Peter Conradin von Planta-Zuoz (1815-1902) therefore arranged for the creation of a foundation for the benefit of a “Graubünden Museum for Science and Art”. The museum was opened on the ground floor of the House Buol on June 8, 1872. Initially it included a library, a natural history collection and a collection of antiquities.

The Collection

The Raetian Museum collects objects, which originate from, were produced or utilized in, or belonged to a person or a family in the Grisons. The collection houses around 100'000 objects. Beside the historical, arts and crafts and numismatic collection, other, smaller divisions belong to the total stock: The Egyptian, ethnographic and the collection of Antiquities originate from the commencements of the museum and are no longer enlarged.

Objects not on display are stored in a shelter for cultural assets in Haldenstein. Over two floors, on a total area of 2'180 m², metal objects, furniture, paintings, vehicles, etc. are kept at constant temperature and atmospheric moisture. Textiles, sculptures and historical paintings are stored separately from the rest. These repositories also serve as study centers and are open to scholars.