Museums - Musée d'Ethnographie Neuchâtel
Musée d'Ethnographie Neuchâtel
rue St-Nicolas 4
CH-2000 Neuchâtel
Switzerland
+41 32 718 19 60
+41 32 718 19 69
 | Tuesday – Sunday, 10h00 – 17h00 Museum hours are subject to change. Please contact museum before visiting to confirm the information listed is correct. |
The history of the collections of the Musée d'Ethnographie Neuchâtel begins in the eighteenth century with the natural history cabinet of General Charles Daniel de Meuron, the elements of which were given to the city in 1795. The objects were transferred in 1904 to the newly-created MEN, which was housed in a villa offered by James-Ferdinand de Pury. In the 1980s, the museum was installed in a new location associated with the Institute of Ethnology of the University of Neuchâtel.
Today, the MEN contains some 30,000 ethnographic objects, more than half of which comprise the African collections, representing eastern and southern Africa, Angola, the Sahara and the Sahel (including Tuareg and Moorish cultures), and Gabon. The museum also preserves large collections of Asian, American, Arctic, and Oceanic objects, as well as non-European musical instruments and works from ancient Egypt. Only a small percentage of the permanent collections are on display.
Today, the MEN contains some 30,000 ethnographic objects, more than half of which comprise the African collections, representing eastern and southern Africa, Angola, the Sahara and the Sahel (including Tuareg and Moorish cultures), and Gabon. The museum also preserves large collections of Asian, American, Arctic, and Oceanic objects, as well as non-European musical instruments and works from ancient Egypt. Only a small percentage of the permanent collections are on display.