Bern, Switzerland

Museum of Communication

Video games, body language, and postal history are all on display in this Swiss museum.

Focusing on the very concept of the ways in which society converses, Bern’s Museum of Communication casts a wide net that manages to touch on everything from letter writing to email while still keeping an eye on the future.

The current museum is actually the evolution of a previously established museum dedicated to the postal history of Switzerland that had been collecting artifacts since the 1800’s. By the 1990’s the “Swiss PTT Museum” had incorporated a large section devoted to telecommunications and other forms of contact that were both replacing and being integrated into formal mailing procedures. It was not long before the modern exhibitions began to overshadow the historical post office relics. In the mid-90’s, the name was finally changed to the Museum of Communication and a number of new exhibitions were permanently installed.

Today there are still a variety of permanent displays that explore the history of communication through modern displays. Among the permanent exhibitions are the postal collection which includes everything from vintage postal trucks to mailboxes and even a special section focusing on stamps throughout history. There is also a section that turns its focus to new media and digital information that includes an impressive collection of video game consoles and accessories from Ataris to modern gaming PC’s.

The connection between the evolution of stamps to video game development might seem a bit hard to make, but the Museum of Communication communicates it quite clearly.