Ninety seconds on Historical Museum Basel
Between the painted fragments of Basel's medieval Dance of Death and the treasury of Basel Cathedral, you see the city's pre-Reformation sacred art together in one former Franciscan church.
The museum fills the Barfüsserkirche on Barfüsserplatz. Its rooms run from archaeological finds through medieval religious art to objects from the present day.
The Dance of Death is the piece to find. Until 1805 it was a life-size mural on the wall of the Dominican cemetery, a procession in which Death leads away partners of every rank, from pope to beggar. What you see now are painted fragments saved from it, each pair once captioned with a verse spoken by Death.
The museum's highlights also include the treasury of Basel Cathedral, with carved altars and religious prints from the same pre-Reformation period.
Downstairs hang late-medieval tapestries of fantasy worlds and daily life, some of the finest in Europe. Renaissance cabinets of curiosities and the Baroque collections share the floor.
Salt stored in the church around 1800 seeped into the floor, and the 1960s renovation added this lower level. Look there too for the remains of the first, older church, which lie beneath today's floor.
Leave large bags, rucksacks and rainwear in the lockers when you arrive, because bulky items are not allowed in the galleries. Food and drink stay outside too. Photography for private use is fine, without flash, tripod or selfie stick.
Take in the Dance of Death fragments and the cathedral treasury first. Then take the stairs or the lift down to the lower level for the tapestries and the cabinets of curiosities.
Wall texts are written in German, with machine translations into English. Selected objects have audio files in three languages that play on your own phone, so bring headphones.
Keep your ticket afterwards. It also opens Haus zum Kirschgarten, a house of period rooms from the 18th and 19th centuries, and the Music Museum, set in the cells of a former prison, on any day within seven days.
Public events, including guided tours, are included in admission and listed in the programme on the museum's website. The tours listed are in German, so check the programme for the topic and language before you plan around one. If you do not speak German, use the audio files for selected objects instead.
At Christmastime the market stalls fill Barfüsserplatz and surround the church, so expect a busy square outside. Entry is free on the first Sunday of the month and in the last hour from Tuesday to Saturday, though neither applies on public holidays and the last hour excludes the special exhibition. Children under 13 and Swiss Museum Pass holders always enter free.
Stairs stand in front of the museum, but a short way round them is step-free, and two wheelchairs can be borrowed free.
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