[Museums I want to revisit ①] Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, Switzerland
The photo shows the Fondation Beyeler, located in Riehen, a suburb of Basel, Switzerland. It is considered one of the world's top museums, primarily exhibiting and housing the collection of the Beyeler couple, who rose to fame as art dealers.
Fondation Beyeler
You can view the museum's interior with Google Street View here:
Museum Tour
The Beyeler Museum's building, designed by Renzo Piano, is incredibly beautiful and sophisticated. Surrounded by greenery, it is situated in a wonderful location.
There's a spot where you can view a pond, replicating Monet's Water Lilies, through beautiful glass. The collection itself is full of masterpieces, including works by Monet, Giacometti, Picasso, Kandinsky, Rousseau, and many others. There was also a lot of contemporary art, including pieces by Roni Horn and Ernesto Neto, both of whom I admire.
The Giacometti exhibition room. You can see many of Giacometti's sculptures, making for a truly luxurious experience. It was a wonderful time for Giacometti fans.
At the time, my daughter was between 0 and 1 year old, so even though we lived only about a 10-minute train ride away, I couldn't visit as many times as I would have liked. (European museums had no problem with children, but as a first-time parent, I didn't have much spare time, and Switzerland's cost of living meant admission fees were very high.) Now, I really envy my past self who could go so easily, and I definitely hope to revisit someday.
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During our time living in Germany, after living in large cities like Berlin and Düsseldorf, from 2018 to 2019, we moved to a small town in southern Germany called Lörrach, with a population of about 50,000.
Lörrach is located on the border of Switzerland and France, and we moved there when my architect husband got a job at an architectural firm in Switzerland.
However, it was very difficult for us, as immigrants from Japan who are neither Swiss nor EU citizens, to obtain a visa to live in Switzerland, so we were unable to get one and couldn't live there.
Since I had already worked in Germany, we obtained a cross-border work visa in Germany, moved to Lörrach, a German border town, and my husband commuted across the border every day.
Incidentally, obtaining a work visa in Lörrach, even in Germany, was not easy; we had to visit the immigration office many times and finally secured it with the help of a lawyer.
Although Lörrach is a small town, it was a great location because the art city of Basel was only a 30-minute local train ride away (with almost no passport checks), offering excellent access to many museums and galleries. I hope to introduce more of it later.
During our years living in Germany, we first spent time in major cities like Berlin and Düsseldorf. Then, from 2018 to 2019, we moved to a small town in southern Germany called Lörrach, with a population of about 50,000.
Lörrach is located right at the border with both Switzerland and France. We relocated there when my husband, an architect, was offered a position at an architecture firm in Switzerland.
However, since we are neither Swiss citizens nor EU nationals, but immigrants from Japan, obtaining a visa to live in Switzerland proved to be extremely difficult. Ultimately, we were unable to get Swiss residency.
Because we had already built a work history in Germany, we were able to apply for a cross-border work visa through the German system instead. So we moved to Lörrach, the closest German city to the Swiss border, and my husband commuted across the border to Switzerland every day.
That said, getting the German work visa in Lörrach wasn’t easy either—we had to go back and forth to the immigration office many times and eventually hired a lawyer to help us secure it.
Even though Lörrach is a small town, it was a wonderful place to live. Just 30 minutes by local train would take us to Basel, a city famous for its art scene, and there were hardly any passport checks. We had easy access to countless museums and galleries—it really was a fantastic location for anyone who loves art.
The photo I’ve shared is of the Fondation Beyeler, a world-renowned art museum located in Riehen, a suburb of Basel, Switzerland.
You can explore the museum's interior through Google Street View here:
https://www.google.co.jp/maps/place/47°35'17.2"N+7°39'03.8"E
The Fondation Beyeler was designed by the renowned architect Renzo Piano, and the building itself is breathtaking—surrounded by greenery, full of light, and incredibly peaceful. There’s even a spot where you can view a pond inspired by Monet’s Water Lilies through the beautiful architecture.
The museum’s permanent collection includes masterpieces by Monet, Giacometti, Picasso, Kandinsky, Rousseau, and many more. There’s also a wide range of contemporary art, including works by some of my favorite artists like Roni Horn and Ernesto Neto.
One of the highlights for me was the Giacometti room—a quiet, contemplative space where you can see many of his sculptures up close. It felt like a truly luxurious experience.
At the time, our daughter was just 0 to 1 year old, so we couldn’t visit the museum as often as I would have liked. (European museums are generally very welcoming to children, but as a first-time parent I didn’t always have the mental space to enjoy outings like that—and with Switzerland’s high cost of living, the admission fees were quite expensive too.)
Looking back, I really envy my past self who had such easy access to places like that. I definitely hope to visit again one day.