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Opening times
Museum

openinghours.days.long.monday closed

openinghours.days.long.tuesday Geöffnet bis openinghours.days.long.sunday openinghours.openfromto.long

Café du Château

openinghours.days.long.monday closed

Mo closed

openinghours.days.long.tuesday Geöffnet bis openinghours.days.long.sunday openinghours.openfromto.long

Tu – Su 9:30 - 17:30

Special opening times

Swiss National Day 01.08.2023 openinghours.openfromto.long

Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer 17.09.2023 openinghours.openfromto.long

Monday of the Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer 18.09.2023 closed

Christmas Eve 24.12.2023 openinghours.openfromto.long

Christmas 25.12.2023 closed

St. Stephen´s Day 26.12.2023 openinghours.openfromto.long

New Year's Eve 31.12.2023 openinghours.openfromto.long

New Year's Day 01.01.2024 closed

Saint Berchtold 02.01.2024 openinghours.openfromto.long

Show all
Opening times
Museum

openinghours.days.long.monday closed

openinghours.days.long.tuesday Geöffnet bis openinghours.days.long.sunday openinghours.openfromto.long

Café du Château

openinghours.days.long.monday closed

Mo closed

openinghours.days.long.tuesday Geöffnet bis openinghours.days.long.sunday openinghours.openfromto.long

Tu – Su 9:30 - 17:30

Special opening times

Swiss National Day 01.08.2023 openinghours.openfromto.long

Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer 17.09.2023 openinghours.openfromto.long

Monday of the Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer 18.09.2023 closed

Christmas Eve 24.12.2023 openinghours.openfromto.long

Christmas 25.12.2023 closed

St. Stephen´s Day 26.12.2023 openinghours.openfromto.long

New Year's Eve 31.12.2023 openinghours.openfromto.long

New Year's Day 01.01.2024 closed

Saint Berchtold 02.01.2024 openinghours.openfromto.long

Show all

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Our story

Situated close to the lake between Lausanne and Geneva, Château de Prangins is surrounded by a five-hectare estate comprising a park, a meadow-cum-orchard, and the country’s largest historical kitchen garden. Home to the Swiss National Museum in French-speaking Switzerland, it is a popular day-trip destination and exhibition venue that combines culture with nature. The largest 18th-century castle open to the public in Switzerland.

THEN…
Although Château de Prangins is the largest 18th-century building open to the public in Switzerland, the site has been inhabited for much longer. The medieval fortress, which is burnt down during the Bernese invasion in 1536, is replaced by a stately home. The present-day château, which has welcomed figures as distinguished as Voltaire and Joseph Bonaparte, owes its handsome appearance to the banker Louis Guiguer, who has it built in the 1730s and so becomes baron of Prangins. The timeless elegance of the French classical style is a living monument to the Age of Enlightenment.

... AND NOW
After numerous changes of ownership, the château is acquired by the Cantons of Vaud and Geneva, who hand it over to the Swiss Confederation in 1975. Château de Prangins opens its doors as the home of the Swiss National Museum in French-speaking Switzerland in 1998. The three floors and the cellars of the historic building – a monument of national importance – host permanent and temporary exhibitions on Swiss history, identity and culture. Housed in the reception rooms of Louis-François Guiguer, Baron of Prangins “Noblesse Oblige! Life at a Château in the 18th Century”, presents its subject in an attractive and novel way.

Exhibition archive