Postcards were hugely popular in the opening decades of the 20th century. In Switzerland millions were sent every year. As a Zurich landmark the National Museum was a highly prized image.
After the National Museum opened over 120 years ago it quickly began drawing large numbers of visitors. A tour of the National Museum at the turn of the 20th must have been an impressive but, at the same time, taxing experience.
In the afternoon of 25 June 1898, the three-day festivities marking the opening of Switzerland’s National Museum culminated in a lavish parade through downtown Zurich. The individual cantons presented themselves on the theme “Local Swiss costumes in portraits of traditional life”.
