Museum Altes Zeughaus Solothurn

Excellent museum of old Swiss/protoConfederation weapons. Well presented. Air con'd

and, yes, for those willing, you can put on a medieval knight's armor (great for the kids)

I have been to this museum twice. Once was four years ago, before the significant renovation which saw it closed for two years. Then and now I give this museum five stars. That is not to say there are not some things which I preferred about the old museum. The new renovation was very well done. As an English speaker I greatly appreciated the interactive displays and tablets which allowed me to learn far more about what I was seeing than on my previous visit. Also several pieces were far better presented. One structural change I noted were the windows. When I was there four years ago they were wide open with a breeze coming through, now they are fixed closed, most likely to the benefit of many pieces on display! I did notice there seemed to be far fewer pieces on display. This was most notable with the larger two handed swords which had hung around the outside wall of the inner circular staircase. Far fewer seemed to be present and there also appeared to be much less armor. If I had never seen the old museum I never would have noticed. Nevertheless this is a fantastic museum and I hope in the days to come they will expand what is on display.

Nice museum. Not suitable for children We had a terrible time here staff followed us around telling us the children are not allowed to touch anything fully understandable in a museum. But the way they spoke to us was inappropriate. Ruined the lovely day that we were having in Solothurn.

Great place even if you have no idea. Zeughaus in Solothurn

Not very big but interesting, large display of weapons from swords and clubs to WWI canons. A bit of Swiss history, well explained. Family friendly.

Very cool museum! History literally breathes from every cannon, sword, and armor. Totally worth a visit when you're in the area.

The "old" arsenal in Solothurn is a must for all people interested in history. The collection of suits of armours, one of the biggest in Northern Europe, is must see for anyone. The "Zeughaus" on its' own square, in one of the prettiest Barock towns in Europe, represents a high quality museum with good and kind staff members,

We wound up in Solothurn (or Saleure if you prefer the old French name) on a quest to find evidence of my husband's original American immigrant ancestor, Jean Guillaume Burat. He was a Swiss mercenary soldier working in the service of the King of France in establishing a new colony near the Mississippi delta in 1719, in what would eventually become Louisiana and Alabama. Coming to the Old Arsenal (or in German, Altes Zeughaus) filled in quite a bit of context about how this could have occurred via the (at that time) centuries-old tradition of young, able-bodied men from Swiss cantons being basically sold into the service of foreign campaigns by wealthy merchants & aristocrats and being enticed to settle where they served with offers of land and supplies after their service was complete. The 400-year-old building in Old Town near St. Ursenkathedral holds 4 floors of exhibits that will be fascinating to anyone interested in the history of warfare and weaponry, as well as the history of Switzerland and the Canton of Solothurn in particular. On the first (ground) floor, you find a small snack bar / rest area, the check-in desk, the inexpensive backpack lockers, and an extensive collection of hand-held weapons, heavy artillery, and cannons. Up the spiral stairs, you can reach the 2nd and 3rd floors where you'll see some exhibits on the history of warfare in the region and a collection of more than 400 suits of armor from the 15th through the 17th centuries, as well as quite a few related battle flags, paintings, and sculptures. One particularly interesting section on the 3rd floor includes a group of life-sized human figures on display since 1845. This group of knights and priests recreate the Diet of Stans in 1481, which admitted Solothurn to the Swiss Confederation and ended with a strong partnership of 13 cantons, both rural & urban, German & French, a pivotal moment leading the way toward the modern Switzerland federation. During our visit, the 4th floor was empty and appeared to be undergoing renovations (which had already happened to the rest of the building from 2014-2016) or perhaps set-up for an upcoming temporary exhibit. The basement (which is reached via elevator) is where you'll find the restrooms. At several stations throughout, there are interactive components where one can listen to music of the time, try out a weapon, put on a suit of armor, or even write in a journal about how war has impacted you personally. If you like, you can even pick up an iPad to carry around with you for real-time translation of the information cards at each exhibit (which really raised my understanding & appreciation of everything I was seeing). The museum definitely lives up to its stated goal of being "a cultural-historical themed museum focusing on military history; ... a place of dialogue and reflection with a broad audience on the subject of 'conflicts and their solutions'." The museum offers a peek at the collection online, so even if you can't make it to Switzerland any time soon, you can learn a great deal from whereever you are at http://sammlungmaz.so.ch/eMuseumPlus (just use Google Translate in Chrome if, like me, you don't speak German). Hours: Tue to Sat 13:00 - 17:00 Sun 10:00 - 17:00 Mon closed Fees: 6 CHF adults 4 CHF students/military/elderly 10 CHF families w/ kids under age 16 free kids 8 and under free (all ages) with Swiss Pass! https://museum-alteszeughaus.so.ch/startseite/ https://museum-alteszeughaus.so.ch/museum/dauerausstellung/