Pharmaziemuseum der Universität Basel

The Haus zum Sessel, which houses the Pharmacy Museum, is in the heart of Basel’s Old Town. This building was once the residence and workplace of the influential printer, Johannes Froben. Paracelsus, Erasmus, Holbein and Durer were frequent visitors to his home. The Museum’s collections include samples of old European and non-European medicine, amulets worn against disease, original laboratory equipment, ceramic utensils, old instruments, and kits of medical supplies for domestic use, for travel and for field use. In addition, it contains books, artwork and handicrafts of a pharmaceutical nature. It contains reconstructions of 16th and 18th century apothecaries’ laboratories and of pharmacies from the 18th and early 19th centuries. The Museum is a part of the University of Basel. Originally created in the 1920s, the Museum’s scientifc collections have been augmented since. The Museum Shop is furnished in a period style and stocks a variety of natural products.

This museum greets you in the following languages: D/F/E
Opening 1925

Current exhibitions

The Cost of Life. A Perspective on Health by Paddy Hartley

13.10.2021 - 23.01.2022

The British artist Patrick Hartley deals with risk in medicine and research. His artistic commentary on medical progress makes it possible to experience directly humankind's efforts to protect health and combat disease. The exhibition commissioned by Roche on the occasion of its 125th anniversary takes place in cooperation with the Museum Tinguely and the Pharmacy Museum Basel.

The exhibition is documented in the following languages: D
Guided tours are offered in the following languages: D

animal! FROM ANIMAL TO ACTIVE INGREDIENT.

03.12.2021 - 05.06.2022

The exhibition at the Pharmaziemuseum Basel examines the (active) power and use of animals as medicinal raw materials, symbols and artefacts from pre-modern times to the present day. Which animal raw materials were used to make which remedies and against which diseases? Even today, animal substances such as fats or hormones play an important role in pharmacy.

The exhibition is documented in the following languages: D