Kunstmuseum Basel

In 1661 the city of Basel bought the Amerbach Cabinet - a collection assembled by a local family and including a large group of Holbein works - specifically to prevent its sale abroad, and put it on public view. That act is generally recognised as creating the first municipally owned collection accessible to the public anywhere, which makes the Kunstmuseum the oldest public art museum in the world by lineage. The Holbein holding remains the largest anywhere. Around it the collection runs from late medieval panels through Bocklin and Swiss nineteenth-century work to a very strong twentieth-century section - Picasso, Braque, Mondrian, Klee and American postwar painting - across three buildings linked underground.

What you actually see

• The world's oldest public collection - bought by the city in 1661.
• The largest Holbein holding - the core of the Amerbach purchase.
• Strong modern galleries - Picasso, Braque, Mondrian and postwar American work.
• Three linked buildings - the historic house, the new wing and the contemporary space.

When to go

All year, closed Mondays. Half a day at least.

Honest expectations

The collection is large enough that a single visit covers a fraction. Works rotate and specific pictures may be off view. Entry is not cheap, though there are free evenings. Basel is expensive generally.

Nearby

The Tinguely Museum is by the Rhine; the Fondation Beyeler is at Riehen.