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The top ten experiences at our museum

Communication is similar to love: we all join in but none of us really know how it works. It is high time, therefore, to visit the only museum in Switzerland fully devoted to the subject of communication. The following ten interactive experiences at the Museum of Communication are not to be missed!

1. Meet a communicator

Award-winning and unique within Switzerland: our communicators. As hosts, they bring direct communication to the exhibition and are available at all times for a spur-of-the-moment game, a short interactive tour or to answer all your questions. Their activities change on a daily basis and make each visit feel special. No more boring museum attendants – make way for direct human contact! Approach one of our communicators and benefit from their background knowledge, talk to them about digitisation or let yourself be carried away on one of the trails.

2. The story of the 53 million franc post office raid

Why does the museum have a burnt-out Fiat delivery van on display? Delve into the exciting story that unfolded in 1997, when 53 million Swiss francs were stolen – and another 17 million were left behind. And along the way you will find out what it is that links escapes and arrests with love. The story of the robbery at the Zurich Fraumünster post office will leave nobody cold.

A group picture of the communicators at the Museum of Communication. - enlarged view
They are award-winning and unique in Switzerland – our communicators.
A yellow mail box stands in front of a white background. The box comes from the post robbery and is burnt. - enlarged view
The story of the mail robbery in the Fraumünster in Zurich leaves no one cold.

3. Record the best video at our film karaoke

If you have always wanted to play a lead role, then you have come to the right place! In film karaoke you can reenact a scene from a famous film and show everyone what Hollywood is missing. Taking part is at least as much fun as it is to watch the efforts of other visitors. But be careful, this interactive station is highly addictive!

4. Send a message by letter shoot

We send emails every day without ever seeing any of them make their journey – it is an abstract digital process that takes place in obscurity. Letter shoots are totally different. Here, pressing “send” activates an airflow that sucks the container with the message through a Perspex pipe. The message is perfectly visible as it shoots through the museum. Is this why our fascination for an almost forgotten form of communication remains unbroken to this day? And will someone write back to you? Let yourself be surprised!

Children watch the screen of the Film Karaoke station. One person enacts, another watches. - enlarged view
In film karaoke you can reenact a scene from a famous film and show everyone what Hollywood is missing.
A girl draws on a white card. There is a pneumatic tube in front of it. - enlarged view
Send a message by letter shoot!

5. Immortalise yourself on a postage stamp

In the past, only famous people managed to get their portrait onto a postage stamp. Today, you can avail of that opportunity yourself. Digitally transpose yourself onto the speaker’s platform at the National Assembly, into the stand at a football stadium, or beside a cow on an Alpine pasture. Use your portrait to make your own personal postage stamp. Naturally, the stamp will be valid too, so all you will have to do then is to decide who you’d like to send a postcard to!

6. Compete in a hacking contest

The last line of defence has been breached, and the hacker is in. Game over! The virus is spreading across the screen and infects the computer. “Rematch!”, the loser demands. The Firewall game in the section on digital communication is structured much like a game of Tetris. Hackers and users compete against each other and both attempt to achieve their goal: to hack into their opponent’s system or to defend their own. It is a playful way of learning about a relevant topic in today’s digital world. You haven’t had enough yet? Move on to the section on multi-tasKing!

A hand takes a postcard and a stamp from a compartment. The words Souvenir are written on the bottom. - enlarged view
In the past, only famous people managed to get their portrait onto a postage stamp. Today, you can avail of that opportunity yourself.
In the exhibition scene, a child and an older man stand at a digital gaming table. - enlarged view
Hackers and users compete against each other and both attempt to achieve their goal: to hack into their opponent’s system or to defend their own.

7. See the first-ever Swiss computer

Today, computers can be found everywhere – most of us even carry one in our pockets. Against this background it is even more impressive to see that ERMETH, the first Swiss computer was as big as ten wardrobes. And despite its size, even a single photograph like those that we take on our mobile phones today would have contained too much data for it to store. Nevertheless, it was in huge demand. The colossus ran day and night. This section makes the history of digitisation come alive. Incidentally, if you walk on a few metres, you can also see the legendary Apple 1.

8. Meet our robot

We have a special fascination for robots. But yet we are relieved to see that we are still better at some things than they are. In any case, taking a walk with our robot will give you the perfect opportunity to ponder what the future holds for humans and machines.

The picture shows the mainframe computer ERMETH. In the foreground is a control panel, behind it the computing unit, which is as big as a row of wall cupboards. - enlarged view
See the first-ever Swiss computer.
A woman stands in front of a screen and interacts with another woman who can be seen on the screen. - enlarged view
Meet our robot.

9. Children’s tours with Ratatösk

Originating from Norse mythology, the cheeky squirrel Ratatösk takes our youngest visitors on an interactive tour of the museum. Twelve stations spread throughout the core exhibition have fascinating things for children between the ages of four and eight to discover. They can build pixel images, guess smells and play memory games, while their parents relax and enjoy the exhibition.

10. Culinary delights to round off your visit

After so many experiences, topics and thought-provoking questions on the museum tour, a visit to our cosy Pavillon Café is the perfect way to round off the day. While enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee and a slice of homemade cake or lunch prepared using fresh local ingredients, you can savour everything you have experienced once again. Enjoy!

Two children are playing in a little house under the stairs. One is looking out of the half-open door. The other is visible through a round window. It is playing with wooden cubes. - enlarged view
Originating from Norse mythology, the cheeky squirrel Ratatösk takes our youngest visitors on an interactive tour of the museum.
There is a plate of soup on a table. Next to it is a spoon with the words "Museum makes you hungry". - enlarged view
After so many experiences, topics and thought-provoking questions on the museum tour, a visit to our cosy Pavillon Café is the perfect way to round off the day.

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