Matterhorn Museum - Zermatlantis, Zermatt

Unexpected underground wonder! Never having visited Zermatt before, I was not aware of the story behind the rise in popularity of this small city. This museum describes the first attempts to conquer the Matterhorn and the history behind the Swiss and Italy rivalry on this quest. Interesting independently if you are or not a climber. Perfect for a rainy day if you don’t have anything else planned.

A museum that showcases the life and history of Matterhorn through faithful recreations of the houses and display items related to the history of mountaineering in the Matterhorn and the surrounding peaks. Quite interesting and engaging to learn of the story of the mountain, with tons of information, and definitely one of the better museums in Switzerland. You get free entry with Swiss Travel Pass.

A very informative museum, perfect for a rainy day in town. Admission is free with a Swiss travel pass, and is an hour well spent if you're into unique little museums and want to learn some local history. I also now have an abundance of niche information about the Matterhorn to unprovokedly dump on my friends. I am sure they will appreciate this... although perhaps not quite as much as I appreciated my time at the museum.

The only museum in town, and what a gem it is! I had no knowledge of human activity around Matterhorn before this, so this was an educational experience. Other than the heart of the museum - the tragic first successful ascent of the mountain - there were many other fascinating displays: a light-up box showing famous regions along the mountain, a reconstruction of the historical (and still existing) hotel the mountain climbers stayed in and local animal models among many more. I particularly enjoyed the portraits and photographs of historical figures collected throughout the museum. Those guys - and some gals - sure knew how to pose! There was also an adjacent exhibition on the role women played here (in the form of added placards by permanent artefacts, not really a temporary exhibition in itself), which added some depth to the perspective presented. There are also two different audio guides available for free on an external guide app you can download on your phone, one from the perspective of one of the men who first climbed the Matterhorn. At the end of the museum there is a space, as part of the temporary exhibition, which invites visitors to leave written and audio messages on gender equality. Backpacks are not allowed in the museum; but there are a small amount of lockers you can use for free. My key came with a cute baseball keychain attached! Everything was well-labeled, which only made this one particular discovery of an unexplained doll (see photos) particularly chilling. Jokes aside, this is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon (the museum only opens at 3pm) in Zermatt if you're not in the mood for the outdoors.

Very interesting museum. There's a lot to see and quite a lot of things to learn. There are original items, like 'the broken rope', the evolution of snow shoes, mountain shoes, ... If you have an hour of spare time, then you know what to do... If you believe this review is useful, then please 'like' it.