Swiss History in the Oldest Swiss City

The museum is focused on the history of the Graubunden canton, which is a particularly mountainous region in the southeast of Switzerland—and the canton where people speak the unusual Romansch language.

The tour starts in the basement of the museum, which has artifacts from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and the time of the Romans occupation of Graubenden. I was completely amazed to find such ancient items, and really enjoyed learning about the early history of this region. We could have also gotten a key to visit nearby Roman ruins but we didn’t have time.

Exhibits are in German but I was given a tablet with English audio and written translations. This was okay but only certain parts of the exhibits had the audio translations and it was annoying to have to read a tablet for extra information.

The upper floors had history from the medieval to 20th century, which were also very interesting! We learned about how this region had many important trade routes, and how agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism industries evolved over the years.

The third floor had a rotating exhibit celebrating the museum’s 150 year history. Curators chose one item that came into the museum’s possession for each year. This was a cool way to explore how the museum’s collection priorities, and what visitors were interested in, changed over the years.

When the museum was first founded, curators were interested in getting any curiosity from around the world, so the early years showed a tomb from ancient Egypt, good luck charms from China, a piece of hair from philosopher Robert Schiller, among other items. Only later would the museum focus on Graubunden culture and history.

The top floor had a really cute area set up like a traditional Swiss house from the 1800s. There were clothes you could try on and lots of places to take photos. Sev tried on a shirt, vest, and hat. Although he doesn’t want his picture posted I must admit he did look very cute.

We really liked the museum, which is also in a convenient location in the Chur old town. I learned a lot. Our only big problem was we got in around 2:30 and the museum closed at 5—this wasn’t enough time to see and read everything like we wanted, and definitely not enough time to check out the Roman ruins nearby with the museum’s key. Budget your time accordingly!