Located in Vevey on the shores of Lake Geneva (one of the stages on the Romantic “Grand Tour”), it owes its creation to a gift: as a mark of her gratitude towards a town in which she had spent many happy times with her husband, Fanny Jenisch (1801-1881), the widow of a senator from Hamburg, donates two hundred thousand gold francs to the town of Vevey to fund the construction of an encyclopaedic museum combining art and science.
Inaugurated in March 1897, the museum is built in a neo-classical style by the architects Maillard and Convert. In accordance with Fanny’s wishes the museum also houses a library, and welcomes generations of schoolchildren who come to discover its stuffed animals – including the famous giraffe – and attend drawing lessons. In the 1980s, the scientific collections are transferred to the cantonal zoology museum in Lausanne.
In 1989, the renovated museum becomes home to the Fondation Oskar Kokoschka and the Canton of Vaud prints collection. The departure of the municipal library in 2004 frees up a space on the lower level, enabling the now somewhat cramped museum to expand in order to accommodate its growing collections.
After a three-year closure while renovation work was carried out, the fully refurbished and expanded Musée Jenisch Vevey reopened its doors in June 2012. The architects, Bakker & Blanc of Lausanne, embedded the historic building in its modern context while remaining faithful to its past. The Musée Jenisch Vevey has a strong identity and a unique atmosphere that Bakker & Blanc set out to preserve.
