Published 14:41 IST, September 4th 2019
Smallest Museum of this country is a window in 600-Year-Old House
The smallest museum of Switzerland, the Hooesagg Museeum is located in a window of two-feet-by-two-feet covered with an iron grill on a 600-year-old house
Switzerland's smallest museum, the Hooesagg Museeum is nothing but a window of two-feet-by-two-feet in size, covered with an iron grille in the door of a 600-year-old house. 'Hoosesagg Museeum' when translated into English, reads 'Pant Pocket Museum'. It could be the smallest museum in the world as well. The museum is located in a narrow pedestrian alley in Basel's Old Town. The owners of the house Dagmar and Matthias Vergeat have been living there for 35 years and incidentally, they have also been running the museum for 24 years now.
No admission fee and in fact no admission either
The museum has no admission fee, what's stranger is that it has no admission either; since it is located at the door of the 600-year-old house. Every few months, new items are displayed in the 'Pant Pocket Museum. The collection primarily consists of the couple's memorabilia, however, they accept contributions from others as well. Dagmar looks after the administrative part of the museum while her husband Matthias Vergeat manages its creative sections. Mathhias calls himself the Creative Director of the museum and says that his wife oversees what items are displayed there. Her responsibility also includes social media promotion and maintaining client relations of various people across the world who may be interested in displaying their collection.
Foundation of the museum
Notably, Dagmar is said to have always been fond of collecting things. Her appreciation for it is reflected in a room that is behind the little museum. The room once originally belonged to their eldest daughter who lived there until she got married. The room had a fresco of Saint Christoffel carrying Jesus on the shoulder. People passing by used to stop and have a look at it, which irritated Dagmar. This, however, was responsible for the foundation of this museum. She said that people peeping into the windows was disturbing for their children as they were small. This was when her husband decided to have a display case easily fitting in the windowpane of the door. The reason behind naming the museum 'Hoosesagg Museeum' was that most of the items displayed over there could easily fit in a pocket.
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Updated 16:34 IST, September 4th 2019