History of the collection
The collection of the Museum Burg Zug
The collection of the Museum Burg Zug comprises some 50,000 objects pertaining to the history of Canton Zug from the Middle Ages up to the present day. The Museum Burg Zug collects three-dimensional cultural goods that have some connection to Canton Zug and considers its main function to serve as the material memory of the region of Zug. While one of the first museum curators around 1900 used to take out newspaper adverts to find potential donors and lenders, we now collect in a more targeted and selective way. The oldest object in the collection is a small container made of bone and horn dating from the 10th or 11th century. The latest acquisitions are associated with the more recent history of Zug and represent the manufacture of Lego pieces in Baar, for instance, or the drinks trading company “Weiss zum Erlenbach AG”, which ceased trading in 2024.
The storage facility
The facility extends over 1700 square metres on two floors. The individual rooms are air-conditioned to a constant temperature of around 18 degrees Celsius and a humidity of approximately 50 percent. The facility is used to store the objects in the collection, which are transferred there once they have been documented, conserved and restored. The storage facility is not open to the public.
Key dates in the history of the collection
The origins of the collection date back to the 19th century. Founded in 1852, the precursor to the current Historical Association of Canton Zug in 1876 began to collect antiquities which were presented to the public at the town hall of Zug from 1879 onwards. Between 1902 and 1906, the holdings increased considerably when the collection of the town armoury was added. The foundation subsequently also received the collections of the burgher commune, the municipality and the corporation of the town of Zug along with other cultural goods associated with the canton. Another large part of the collection are the permanent loans from the Catholic parishes of Baar, Cham, Menzingen, Neuheim, Unterägeri and Zug.
- 1879: “Weber Anton: Das Museum auf dem Stadt-Rathhause Zug, 1879” is the first museum guidebook to be published.
- 1898: The Church of St Michael in Zug is demolished. Its Romanesque Madonna, the Baroque tabernacle and the baptismal font are transferred to the Historical Museum at the town hall of Zug.
- 1939-1945: During the Second World War some of the objects are packed away in boxes for safekeeping.
- 12th November 1946: A fire on the first floor of the town hall destroys the chancellery and the Burgher Council chamber. An heraldic plaque is the only museum object destroyed by the fire, but a series of other objects are damaged.
- 1979: A book entitled “Historisches Museum Zug (Hg.): 100 Jahre Historisches Museum Zug: konservieren, restaurieren, inventarisieren ..., 1979” is published
- From 1983: Significant additions to the collection:
Fritz Kunz bequest (1868-1947)
Cobbler’s workshop of Xaver Blum from Risch (in operation from 1931 to 1990)
Keiser potter’s workshop (in operation from 1856 to 1938)
Schwerzmann family collection from Postplatz square in Zug. As a Burgher Councillor, Emil Schwerzmann-Oppenhoff (1899-1986) was president of the Historical Museum Commission from 1939 until the establishment of the “Museum in der Burg Zug” Foundation in 1974.
Luthiger’s chemist shop at Neugasse in Zug (built mainly in 1924 on Neugasse lane in Zug, closed down in 1987). In 2000, the surviving shop inventory was donated to the Museum Burg Zug. - From June 2013: The collection is moved to the new storage facility (approx. 1700 square metres)
- 2021-2024: As part of a project entitled “Kloster Maria Opferung”, 1291[1] new objects are added to the collection. You can find more information about the project here.
- Since November 2022: Part of our collection can be accessed on our website by clicking on “Online Collection”
- 2024: As part of the project entitled “Fotodynastie Bürgi”, 400 to 450 objects that were donated to the Museum Burg Zug in 2021 and 2022 by the “Bürgi heirs” are added to the collection. You can find more information about the project here.
[1] This is the number of records in the collection database. It includes individual objects, multi-part objects and assemblages made up of many associated elements.
