C. G. Jung and the exploration of the human psyche in Switzerland
Exhibition | accessibility.time_to
Switzerland has been home to a number of soul searchers over the years, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Friedrich Nietzsche and Carl Gustav Jung. Developments in psychiatry and psychoanalysis have a close association with Switzerland, which is still in evidence today, for example the pioneering Rorschach test, Ludwig Binswanger’s Daseinsanalysis or Jung’s analytical psychology. To mark the 150th birthday of C. G. Jung, the National Museum Zurich is presenting its first comprehensive exhibition covering the history of the exploration of the human psyche in Switzerland. The main exhibit is the legendary ‘Red Book’ in which C. G. Jung made his notes during an intense spell of self-reflection. Art also helps open doors to the mind with visionary works by Johann Heinrich Füssli, Emma Kunz, Rudolf Steiner, Meret Oppenheim or Thomas Hirschhorn and, last but not least, Heidi Bucher, whose work ‘The Parlour Office of Doctor Binswanger’ sets an important accent. This provides a psychological panorama covering every region in Switzerland, in which the connection between mind and landscape is presented in impressive fashion.
Guided tour of the exhibition "Landscapes of the mind. C.G. Jung and the exploration of the human psyche in Switzerland".
Tour: 1 hour
Guided tours can be arranged outside opening hours: Mon between 9.30 am and 6 pm, Tue to Fri between 9.30 am and 7.45 pm. Sat and Sun between 10 am and 5 pm
| Registration: |
2 weeks in advance |
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Duration: |
60 minutes; special packages can be offered on request |
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Group size: |
max. 25 participants per tour |
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Languages: |
English, German, Italian, French. Other offers upon request. |
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Cost: |
CHF 180 for the guided tour + CHF 10 admission per person Children up to 16 years free. For groups of persons with permit N, S, F, the guided tour and admission are free of charge. |
Monday till Friday 09:00 - 12:30
The discovery of the psyche and the development of psychoanalysis are closely linked to Switzerland. What did Rousseau, Freud and Jung think about emotions, dreams and the inner workings of the human mind? How did they and other “soul seekers” attempt to reveal the unconscious through conversations, drawings and tests? This guided tour provides an insight into the various theories and approaches to the psyche over time and concludes with a reflection on mental health today.
1 hour
Guided tours are free of charge for school classes from Switzerland
Guided tours in English can be arranged, even outside opening hours. Guided tours are free of charge for school classes from Switzerland.
| Booking: |
at least 2 weeks in advance |
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Duration: |
1 hour guided tours, other services by prior arrangement |
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Group size: |
max. 25 people |
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Cost: |
Guided tours for school classes from Switzerland are free of charge. |
Monday till Friday 09:00 - 12:30
Switzerland has long been home to “mappers of the mind” such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Carl Gustav Jung. The international development of psychiatry, psychology, and psychoanalysis from the pioneering Rorschach Test and Ludwig Binswanger’s Daseinsanalyse to Jungian analytical psychology remains closely tied to Switzerland even today. In 1910, Sigmund Freud even considered making Zurich the “world capital of psychoanalysis.”
Painting a lively picture of how mind and landscape are interlinked, this book unfurls a “psychogeography” of Switzerland that includes visionary works of art by Henry Fuseli, Heidi Bucher, H. R. Giger, Meret Oppenheim, and Thomas Hirschhorn, as well as texts by Murray Stein, Verena Kast, Stefan Zweifel, Christine Lötscher, Peter Schneider, Gesa Schneider, Lothar Müller, Ita Grosz-Ganzoni, Thomas Fischer, Elizabeth Leuenberger, Urs Germann, Ursina Klauser, and Michael Jakob, as well as an interview with Alain de Botton.
Published by Swiss National Museum
Hardcover, 208 pages, 67 color and 13 black-and-white illustrations
19.5 x 26.5 cm
ISBN 978-3-03942-277-7
The media conference on the exhibition is taking place on 15.10.2025 at 10:00 at the National Museum Zurich.
The media folder and materials are available for download from this date.
