75th anniversary of the Swiss Museum of Transport Association
The meeting place was the 2nd class station buffet in Zurich. On February 26, 1942, 76 personalities from the world of transport and business met there and founded the Swiss Museum of Transport 75 years ago. Under the chairmanship of the Director of the Federal Office of Transport, the gentlemen present discussed the project of a Swiss Museum of Transport, adopted the statutes and elected the first Board of Directors. Another 17 years passed before the Swiss Museum of Transport opened in Lucerne on July 1, 1959. Today, the Museum of Transport - still organized as an association - is the most visited museum in Switzerland.The idea of promoting public understanding of transportation first emerged at the turn of the century in connection with the 50th anniversary of the Swiss railroads and later on the occasion of the National Exhibition of 1914. The focus was on a railroad museum. Such a museum was opened by the SBB in Zurich in 1918. The 1939 national exhibition gave new impetus to the idea of a Swiss transport museum or museum of transport. The SBB Board of Directors and the parliamentary Federal Railway Commissions agreed to this idea. The existing action committee subsequently became the Swiss Museum of Transport Association. Federal and municipal authorities, federal and private railroads, the PTT administration and road, tourism and aviation institutions were represented on the broad-based board. The project drawn up after the association was founded envisaged the construction of a transport museum in Zurich. This idea fell through due to a lack of space. When the Lucerne City Council made a suitable plot of land available in the Würzenbach area in 1950, Lucerne was chosen as the headquarters of the association and the site of the future Museum of Transport. The central location, the large number of tourists from Switzerland and abroad, including the numerous school trips, and the good transport links were all factors in its favor. SBB and the private railroads, the PTT administration, the road transport industry and the federal government were the main contributors to the construction costs of CHF 5 million.Diversity of mobilityThe original Transport Museum consisted of the departments of rail, road and air transport and also included the topics of communications, post, telegraph and telephone as well as water transport and tourism. Even in the early days, there was a transport archive and a conference room. The Museum of Transport remained true to the basic idea of depicting the diversity of mobility and even expanded it with the space travel department.As part of its anniversary activities, the Museum of Transport is hosting a night at the Museum of Transport for members and non-members on April 29, 2017 from 6 pm. At this official birthday celebration, visitors can expect an evening full of surprises in an atmospheric setting. There will also be a special program on Members' Day on 24 June 2017, and the Museum of Transport Association has come up with an anniversary offer for other associations. The offer includes admission to the museum, a meeting room for an event and a 3-course meal. Only organized groups can benefit from this in the anniversary year 2017.
